Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-29T04:15:53.765Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

First-episode psychosis: factors associated with delayed access to care in a rural Egyptian setting

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Mamdouh El-Adl
Affiliation:
Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Trust, Northampton, UK, email Mamdouh.eladl@nht.northants.nhs.uk
Mohammed El-Mahdy
Affiliation:
Al-Azhar University, Dhumyatt, Egypt
Musheera Anis
Affiliation:
Mansoura General Hospital, Egypt
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Over the past few decades there has been a growing interest in first-episode psychosis (FEP), help-seeking behaviour and pathways to care. Treating psychotic disorders in their earliest stages has become a key focus for research and clinical care (Yung & McGorry, 2007). FEP studies show that the average time between onset of symptoms and first effective treatment is often 1 year or more (McGlashan, 1987). This long duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) is undesirable. Early treatment helps minimise the risk of the serious consequences of untreated psychosis, in terms of changes in mental state and behaviour (Larsen et al, 1998; Wyatt et al, 1998) and can reduce suffering (Ho et al, 2003). Some early results suggested that an ‘early intervention in psychosis’ (EIP) service is more cost-effective than generic services (Mihalopoulos et al, 1999).

Type
Original Paper
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits noncommercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists 2008

References

Beiser, M., Erickson, D., Fleming, J. A. E., et al (1993) Establishing the onset of psychotic illness. American Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 13491354.Google ScholarPubMed
Brunet, K., Birchwood, M., Lester, H., et al (2007) Delays in mental health services and duration of untreated psychosis. Psychiatric Bulletin, 31, 408410.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edwards, J. & McGorry, P. (2002) Key Service Elements. Early Recognition and Assistance: Implementing Early Intervention in Psychosis. A Guide to Establishing Early Psychosis Services. Martin Dunitz.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
El-Adl, M. & Balhaj, T. (2008) Stigma of mental illness (SMI): views of the public in an Arabic culture. Arab Journal of Psychiatry, 19, 5765.Google Scholar
Fahmy, E., Michael, V., Elsheikh, H., et al (2004) Knowledge, attitude and behaviour towards mental illness across secondary schools in Benha city. Egyptian Journal of Psychiatry, 23, 3037.Google Scholar
Ho, B.-C., Alicata, D., Ward, J., et al (2003) Untreated initial psychosis: relation to cognitive deficits and brain morphology in first episode schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 142148.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Larsen, T. K., Johannsen, J. O. & Opjordsmoen, S. (1998) First episode schizophrenia with long duration of untreated psychosis. British Journal of Psychiatry, 172 (suppl. 33), s45s52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lincoln, C. & McGorry, P. (2000) Pathways to care in early psychosis: clinical and consumer perspectives. In The Recognition and Management of Early Psychosis. A Preventive Approach (eds McGorry, P. & Jackson, H.), pp. 5179. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Loebel, A. D., Lieberman, J. A., Alvir, J. M. J., et al (1992) Duration of psychosis and outcome in first episode schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 11831188.Google ScholarPubMed
McCrone, P. & Knapp, M. (2007) Economic evaluation of early intervention services. British Journal of Psychiatry, 191 (suppl. 51), s19s22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGlashan, T. H. (1987) Recovery style from mental illness and long-term outcome. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 175, 681685.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mihalopoulos, C., McGorry, P. D. & Carter, R. C. (1999) Is phase-specific, community oriented treatment of early psychosis an economically viable method of improving outcome? Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 100, 4755.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shiers, D. & Lester, H. (2004) Early intervention for first episode psychosis needs greater involvement of primary care professionals for its success. BMJ, 328, 14511452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wyatt, R. J., Damiani, M. & Henter, I. D. (1998) First episode schizophrenia. British Journal of Psychiatry, 172 (suppl. 33), s77s83.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yung, A. & McGorry, P. (2007) Prediction of psychosis: setting the stage. British Journal of Psychiatry, 191 (suppl. 1), s1s8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.