Factors contributing to the duration of untreated prodromal positive symptoms in individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis

Early referral and comorbidity as possible causes of the declining transition rate in subjects at clinical high risk for psychosis

“…Follow-up assessments were performed every 6 months for 2 years and then annually thereafter. This study measured the DUPP, 6 the parental socio-economic state based on the Hollingshead Socioeconomic Status Scale, the Korean-Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (K-WAIS), 21 the Structured Interview for Psychosis-Risk Syndromes (SIPS), 22,23 the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), 24 the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), 25…”

“…The DUPP was assessed as in the previous study. 6 Two psychiatrists among the authors assessed the DUPP from individual records on the SIPS and from electronic medical records. The DUPP was measured in months and then recalculated in years to two decimal places.…”

“…However, the criteria for CHR are focused on the attenuated positive symptoms and global functioning in CHR subjects rather than non‐specific prodromal symptoms. The duration of untreated prodromal positive symptoms (DUPP; the period from fulfilment of the criteria for CHR to participation in a CHR program and the prescription of medication) was introduced as the period requiring specialized intervention . Nevertheless, no study has assessed the effect of the DUPP on the transition rate.…”

Is early management of psychosis designed for migrants? Improving transcultural variable collection when measuring duration of untreated psychosis

“…Nine of these studies had included at least 1 of the following terms in their title, abstract or introduction: "demographic, socioenvironmental (…) predictors" (Broussard et al, 2013), "social determinants" (Nishii et al, 2010) or even "African-American (…) patients" (Compton, Esterberg, Druss, Walker, & Kaslow, 2006;Compton, Goulding, Gordon, Weiss, & Kaslow, 2009), "demographic characteristics" (O'Donoghue et al, 2014),"ethnicity" (Clarke et al, 2007;Cratsley, Regan, McAllister, Simic, & Aitchison, 2008),"socio-demographic contributors" (Chon et al, 2015) or "demographic factors" (Al Fayez, Lappin, Murray, & Boydell, 2017). Nonetheless, they did not explore transcultural variables after the introduction and were therefore excluded.…”

Do fewer males present to clinical high‐risk services for psychosis relative to first‐episode services?

“…Indeed, within the high‐risk population, it has been reported that males are more likely to have poorer baseline functioning and that this predicts transitions in males . The male gender has also been associated with a prolonged duration of untreated CHR symptoms, in turn associated with transition . That being said, it is commonly accepted that depression and anxiety disorders are more prevalent in females in adolescence and early adulthood, which may affect the gender distribution of this pluripotential state.…”