Predictors of Symptom Severity and Functioning in First Episode Psychosis

Abstract

There is dearth of studies on the role of critical socio-demographic and clinical variables on psychopathology and functional outcome in persons with first episode psychosis (FEP), especially from lower and middle income countries. Therefore, we studied the predictors of psychiatric symptom severity and socio-occupational dysfunction among persons with non-affective FEP in India. Using multiple linear regression models, we examined the role of gender, previous admission, psychiatric co-morbidity, duration of psychosis, and duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) on psychiatric symptom severity and socio-occupational dysfunction among 71 persons with non-affective FEP. The participants were recruited from a tertiary mental health center in South India. The Brief psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and Social Occupational Functioning Scale (SOFS) were used measure symptom severity and socio-occupational dysfunction respectively. Gender (male), presence of co-morbid psychiatric illness, higher duration of psychosis, and longer DUP significantly increased psychiatric symptoms and socio-occupational dysfunction. The independent variables predicted 40% variance on psychiatric symptoms and 37% variance on socio-occupational dysfunction. Both regression models were significant at p < 0.001 level. The study is helpful to understand the common predictors of symptoms and functioning in FEP. However, future studies need to examine the role of other critical mediating variables on psychopathology and functions to evolve a comprehensive pathway model.