In Patients with Schizophrenia, Does a Longer Initial Untreated Period Worsen Prognosis?

How much difference do early detection and prompt treatment make in the clinical course of schizophrenia? According to some theories, a longer duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) causes worse prognosis, either due to permanent neurotoxic and psychosocial injury or because this signals the insidious onset of a more severe and persistent psychotic disorder. To learn more, investigators examined data on 287 individuals diagnosed with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder from a long-term, multisite study (male, 64%; white, 69%; baseline age range, 15–30; medicated during initial hospitalization, 86%). DUP (defined as the interval between onset of first psychotic symptoms and first hospitalization) ranged from <1 day to 24 years.

The investigators…