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Differences in duration of untreated psychosis for racial and ethnic minority groups with first-episode psychosis: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis

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Abstract

Purpose

Ethnic minority groups with early psychosis may have longer treatment delays, potentially leading to poorer outcomes. We updated a previous systematic review of the literature on racial and ethnic differences in duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) among people with first-episode psychosis.

Results

Six of 17 studies described significant differences across aggregated racial groups; however, the pooled estimates did not show differences across groups. Additional data from this update allowed for disaggregated analyses, finding that Black-African groups have a shorter DUP, whereas Black-Caribbean groups have longer DUP, relative to White groups.

Conclusions

These findings highlight the importance of in-depth research on disaggregated ethnic groups to inform targeted early intervention strategies for minority populations.

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Correspondence to Kelly K. Anderson.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

ESM_1: Flow chart of the search strategy and exclusion process for the systematic review (PDF 15 kb)

ESM_2: Characteristics of studies included in systematic review (n = 17) (XLS 68 kb)

127_2019_1737_MOESM3_ESM.xlsx

ESM_3: Findings on duration of untreated psychosis and ethnic/racial group for studies included in the systematic review (n = 17) (XLSX 17 kb)

ESM_4: Quality assessment ratings for studies included in the systematic review (n = 17) (XLSX 11 kb)

127_2019_1737_MOESM5_ESM.png

ESM_5: Meta-analysis of the log-transformed standardized mean difference (SMD) in duration of untreated psychosis for Black and Asian groups relative to White (PNG 50 kb)

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Schoer, N., Huang, C.W. & Anderson, K.K. Differences in duration of untreated psychosis for racial and ethnic minority groups with first-episode psychosis: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 54, 1295–1298 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-019-01737-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-019-01737-3

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