DUP in first-episode schizophrenia and its early prognosis in Japan.

DUP of first-episode schizophrenia patients has recently been drawing a lot of attention, but there is no investigation in relation to early prognosis in Japan. The duration of first admission and neuroleptic dosage in 1 year after prescribing first neuroleptics have been studied. Subjects and method 83 consecutive patients of neuroleptic naïve first-episode schizophrenia from two hospitals were investigated on its mean DUP. Furthermore, the mean duration (days) of first admission and chlorpromazine equivalent dosage(mg) in 1 year after first treatment were compared intwopatients groups. Group a DUP > 5 months, Group B < 5 months. Results The mean DUP was 13.7 months and the median was 5.0 months. The length of stay of first admission: group A: 121.1 days, and group B: 40.7 days ( P=0.018). Chlorpromazine equivalent dosage in 1 year were 770.5 mg in group A, and 226.1 mg in group B ( P=0.080). Discussion Correlation of DUP and GAF, length of first admission, and chlorpromazine dosage will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]