Duration of untreated psychosis and acute remission of negative symptoms in a South American first-episode psychosis cohort.

Aim: To determine the association between duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) and symptoms remission in a hospitalized first-episode psychosis cohort.

Methods: Inpatients with a first-episode non-affective psychosis were recruited. Subjects were divided into two groups of long and short DUP using a 3-month cut-off point, and this was related to remission at 10 weeks of treatment. Multivariate analyses were performed.

Results: Fifty-five inpatients were included. There were no differences in remission rates of positive symptoms. Up to 76.5% of the patients with a short DUP (<3 months) achieved remission of negative symptoms versus 31.6% in the DUP ≥ 3 months group (P = 0.003). After controlling for relevant factors, patients with a shorter DUP were still three times more likely to achieve negative symptoms remission (HR: 3.04, 95% CI 1.2-7.5).

Conclusions: DUP is a prognostic factor that should be considered at an early stage to identify a 'high risk' subgroup of persistent negative symptoms.