Investigating Clinical Factors Associated with Delay In Treatment Of the First Symptoms Of Psychosis In Patients Referring To Farabi Hospital of Kermanshah

Delay in treatment of psychotic symptoms is associated with increase in time to recovery, response to treatment, and more relapse rate of psychosis. The purpose of this study is to determine clinical factors associated with delay in treatment of the first symptoms of psychosis in patients referred to Farabi Hospital of Kermanshah. This is a descriptive cross-sectional study carried out on 94 patients, 51 male and 43 female, who experienced the first psychotic attack, using available sampling method. Required data are extracted from a clinical interview based on an approved clinical checklist completed by specialists and experts in psychiatry and psychology. Then, descriptive statistics indices including frequency, mean, standard deviation, median, and t-test are summarized and analyzed using SPSS software (version 24). mean delay in treatment of the first psychotic symptoms was 48.5±65.6 weeks. There was a significant difference between the patients’ history of drug abuse (P-value=0.001), history of anxiety disorder (P-value=0.003), existence of negative symptoms (P-value=0.001), disorganized speech (P-value=0.001), disorganized behavior (P-value= 0.001), on one hand, and delay in treatment of the first psychotic symptoms, on the other hand. Clinical factors associated with delay in treatment of the first symptoms of psychosis are introduced as important factors affecting the level of mental health and full recovery of the affected patients; thus, identifying these factors along with proper planning and interventions based on providing health care services can promote the quality of the patients’ psychological well-being.