Determinants of help-seeking and system related components of delay in the treatment of first-episode psychosis.

Background: Knowledge about factors that influence different components of duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) is important for designing interventions to reduce DUP.

Methods: We tested associations between help-seeking and referral components of DUP (DUP-H and DUP-R, respectively) and the following predictor variables: age, gender, ethnicity, living arrangement, pre-morbid adjustment, age at onset of psychosis, diagnosis, level of symptoms, type of first and total number of mental health contacts prior to and after the onset of psychosis in a sample of 98 first-episode psychosis patients (FEP).

Results: Longer DUP-HS was significantly associated with earlier age at onset, diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum psychosis and poor pre-morbid adjustment during adolescence. Longer DUP-R was associated with earlier age at onset and first help-seeking contact having been made with a non-medical professional.

Conclusions: Relatively non-malleable patient characteristics are likely to influence delay in help-seeking while more malleable systemic characteristics influence delay associated with referral for specialized treatment.