Symptoms at Onset in First Episode Schizophrenia: Caregivers Perspectives

Abstract

Background:Early recognition of symptoms is important in the management of psychosis. Caregivers understanding and attribution of symptoms plays a major role in treatment selection.Aim:The aim was to identify the various symptoms cluster recognized by caregivers at illness onset in first episode schizophrenia.Subjects and Methods:In a cross-sectional study 40 key caregivers of patients with first episode of Schizophrenia (International Classification of Diseases-10) attending the outpatient services of Schizophrenia Research Foundation were recruited. Caregivers were assessed using a questionnaire adapted from the Psychiatric and Personal History Schedule.Statistical Analysis:Principal component (PCP) analysis.Results:Caregivers were predominantly women. Parents (58%), siblings (18%), spouse (12%), and children (12%) formed the sample. The caregiver easily recognized depressive symptoms. An analysis was done to analyze symptom data rated on the caregiver questionnaire indicated a four-factor solution. PCP analysis produced a clear depressive, anxious, irritable, and vegetative factor (Eigenvalue >0.05). Caregivers (40%) attributed present lifestyle as causality. The first contact of help in almost half of the sample (45%) was to a psychiatric facility.Conclusion:Caregiver's perception about mental illness and ability to identify the four factors has important treatment implications. Studying patterns of help seeking may be a useful strategy in early intervention programs.

Factors Influencing Professional Help-Seeking Behavior During First Episode Psychosis in Schizophrenia: An Exploratory Study on Caregivers’ Perspective

“…High tolerance for behavioral abnormality and disability in Asian families often leads to symptoms being unrecognized (38). Misattribution of illness behaviors to typical adolescence, stress, lifestyle or supernatural causes, which was also observed in this current study, is another common cultural contribution to delay in help-seeking (39,40). In Malaysia, beliefs about causes of schizophrenia vary.…”

First-episode psychosis research in India: A review

“…Using Principal Component (PCP) analysis, it was identified that four factors were easily recognised by the caregivers namely, depressive, anxious, irritable, and vegetative factor. 34 Another study examined the expressed emotion in caregivers of individuals with first-episode psychosis shaped by stress and social support to them. The results indicated that caregivers experienced high level of perceived stress, expressed emotion and poor social support.…”