The pathway to mental health care for first-episode psychosis in Korea
Poster A85, Thursday, October 20, 11:30 am - 1:00 pm, Le Baron
Shihyun Kang1, Yulim Nam1, Hyun Joo Shin1, Gahyeon Soong1, Jongil Lee1, Hyun Kyung Lee1, Jun no Lee1; 1National Center for Mental Health
Introduction: Understanding pathways to early intervention services for psychosis is crucial, as the structure and organization of services need to be considered. Methods: The sample comprised patients presenting with 31 first-episode psychosis to the psychiatric services of the National Center for Mental Health, South Korea, from June to December 2015. The association between the duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) and demographic, clinical and social variables was examined. Results: The DUP ranged from 0.1 to 87 months. The mean DUP was 11.0±18.5 months. In the regression analyses, the CGI-Severity of patients (β=0.815, P=0.013) and the education year of caregiver (β=-0.629, p=0.002) were significantly associated with DUP. Twenty nine percent of the patients had firstly sought consultation with nonpsychiatric medical department. Sixteen percent of the patients had firstly contacted nonmedical service. The DUP of these group of patients were significantly different from those who firstly sought help in psychiatric department (24.1±29.5, 13.6±10.6, vs. 3.2±4.4, P=0.017). Conclusions: Nearly Half of psychotic patients had firstly contacted with nonpsychiatric or nonmedical service, and these contacts delayed the start of psychiatric treatment. There is a need to develop the strategies to improve the pathway to care of psychotic patients. Keywords : pathway to care, first-episode psychosis, DUP
Topic Area: First Episode Psychosis