Journal article
Untreated initial psychosis: relation to cognitive deficits and brain morphology in first-episode schizophrenia
The American journal of psychiatry, Vol.160(1), pp.142-148
01/2003
DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.160.1.142
PMID: 12505813
Abstract
Studies of patients experiencing their first episode of psychosis have demonstrated that they typically remain undiagnosed and untreated for 1-2 years. It has been postulated that prolonged untreated psychosis may have serious effects: poor response to neuroleptic medications, poor clinical outcomes, and direct neurotoxicity. This study investigated the relationships between duration of untreated initial psychosis and neurocognitive functioning and high-resolution imaging brain measurements.
A total of 156 subjects with DSM-IV schizophrenia, schizophreniform disorder, or schizoaffective disorder were evaluated during their first episode of psychosis. Measurements included nine domains of neurocognitive functioning, volumetric measures of total brain tissue, gray and white matter, and CSF, and measures of brain surface anatomy.
The mean duration of untreated initial psychosis was 74.3 weeks. Correlations between neurocognitive functioning, brain volumetric measurements, and surface anatomy measurements with duration of untreated initial psychosis were weak; none reached statistical significance. When the group was divided on the basis of median duration of untreated initial psychosis, there were again no significant differences between the groups with long and short duration of untreated initial psychosis except on two measures (verbal memory and cortical sulcal depth).
The absence of strong correlations suggests that untreated initial psychosis has no direct toxic neural effects. These results suggest that large-scale initiatives designed to prevent neural injury through early intervention in the prepsychotic or early psychosis phase may be based on incorrect assumptions that neurotoxicity or cognitive deterioration may be avoided. Nevertheless, early treatment is justified because it reduces suffering.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Untreated initial psychosis: relation to cognitive deficits and brain morphology in first-episode schizophrenia
- Creators
- Beng-Choon Ho - Mental Health Clinical Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa College of Medicine and the University of Iowa College of Public Health, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA. beng-ho@uiowa.eduDaniel AlicataJulianna WardDavid J MoserDaniel S O'LearyStephan ArndtNancy C Andreasen
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- The American journal of psychiatry, Vol.160(1), pp.142-148
- DOI
- 10.1176/appi.ajp.160.1.142
- PMID
- 12505813
- NLM abbreviation
- Am J Psychiatry
- ISSN
- 0002-953X
- eISSN
- 1535-7228
- Publisher
- United States
- Grant note
- MH-31593 / NIMH NIH HHS MH-40856 / NIMH NIH HHS MH-43271 / NIMH NIH HHS
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 01/2003
- Academic Unit
- Psychiatry; Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Biostatistics; Nursing; Injury Prevention Research Center; Medicine Administration
- Record Identifier
- 9984003432902771
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