Duration of untreated psychosis, ethnicity, educational level, and gender in a multiethnic South-East Asian country: report from Malaysia schizophrenia registry

Introduction: Duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) determines the outcome of schizophrenia. Previously, there was no information about the DUP among patients in Malaysia with schizophrenia. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between DUP and patients' demographic, social cultural background and clinical features. Method: This is a cross-sectional study on patients who presented with first episode schizophrenia. Data from 74 primary care centers and hospitals between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2007 were included in the analysis. All patients with first-episode schizophrenia were enrolled in the study. Results: The mean DUP was 37.6 months. The indigenous community appeared to have the shortest DUP compared to the Malay, Chinese and Indian communities. Female, people with lower educational level, and comorbidity with medical illness during contact had longer DUP. Discussion: DUP in this multiethnicity country was found to be significantly short among the indigenous people, which may sugest that traditional values and strong family and community ties shorten the DUP. Educational level may need to be further investigated, because as upgrading the general educational level could lead to shorter DUP among the patients as well.