Duration of untreated psychosis and outcome in first-episode psychosis. Perspective from a developing country

Objective: To investigate the association between duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) and treatment outcome in a sample of subjects from a developing country. Method: Forty-eight subjects with a first episode of psychosis were evaluated prior to treatment and at 3-month intervals over a period of 24 months. We first examined correlations between DUP and symptom improvement as measured on the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS), and then performed multivariate analysis to determine the validity of DUP as a predictor of outcome. Results: DUP was significantly correlated with improvement in PANSS total and negative subscale scores as well as the PANSS depression factor at 21 and 24 months. Multivariate analysis found DUP to be the only significant predictor of improvement in negative symptoms at 24 months. Conclusion: DUP was a significant predictor of outcome in a cohort form a developing country. This study provides support for early detection and intervention strategies.