What factors are related to delayed treatment in individuals at high risk for psychosis?
BACKGROUND
Previous studies have shown that the individuals at high risk for psychosis suffer from depression, anxiety, and deficits in social functioning. The present report describes help-seeking behaviours, baseline psychopathology, and duration of attenuated psychotic symptoms (DUAPS) and their associations with other variables.


METHODS
Using the Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental States (CAARMS), we conducted systematic evaluations of individuals at high risk for psychosis. Help-seeking behaviours, current Axis I diagnoses, DUAPS, and baseline psychopathology were investigated. Demographic and clinical characteristics of short and long DUAPS groups were compared.


RESULTS
Thirty-eight subjects were recruited from nine centres. Participants seldom sought psychiatric services at their first help-seeking contact, and the mean DUAPS was 22.00 +/- 28.59 months. Most participants had current Axis I diagnoses, and depressive disorder NOS was the most common of these. Higher levels of depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and functional impairment were also identified. We found no significant differences between short and long DUAPS groups in baseline psychopathology. However, we observed significantly lesser distressing intensity of thought contents and significantly greater social impairment in the long-DUAPS group.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that high-risk subjects frequently received delayed treatment despite symptomatic distress and functional impairment. No direct evidence supporting the delayed effect of the DUAPS on baseline psychopathology was found.
Department of Psychiatry, Chonbuk National University Medical School & Institute for Medical Sciences, Jeonju, Korea. chungyc@chonbuk.ac.kr
Young-Chul
YC
Chung
Hee-Yeon
HY
Jung
Sung-Wan
SW
Kim
Seung-Hwan
SH
Lee
Sang-Eun
SE
Shin
Yun-Mi
YM
Shin
Jong-Ik
JI
Park
Suk K
SK
An
Young-Hoon
YH
Kim
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D012306:Risk; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013997:Time Factors