Detection and characteristics of individuals with a very long duration of untreated psychosis in an early intervention for psychosis service

Abstract

AIM: Early intervention (EI) services for psychosis aim to reduce the duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) with intensive large-scale multi-focus initiatives, including public awareness campaigns. As a consequence of this approach, individuals with a very long DUP who might have otherwise remained undiagnosed may come to medical attention. The aim of this study was to investigate if an EI service detected additional cases of individuals with a first-episode psychosis (FEP) with a very long DUP and identify demographic and clinical characteristics associated with a very long DUP. METHODS: We compared the distribution of the DUP in cases with FEP in a cohort from an EI service in a geographic..