Entire duration of active psychosis and neurocognitive performance in first‐episode non‐affective psychosis

Aim To explore if the entire duration of active psychosis (DAP) is related to neurocognitive performance at baseline and at 3‐year follow‐up in patients with first episode psychosis (FEP). Methods DAP was estimated for 481 FEP patients. A neuropsychological battery was administered to measure neurocognitive specific domains, and a global indicator of neurocognitive impairment (global deficits score, GDS) was calculated. According to the DAP quartiles, four subgroups were formed, and these were compared. In addition, a logistic regression analysis was carried out to predict neurocognitive impairment at 3‐year follow‐up. Results FEP patients with the longest DAP (more than 18.36 months) presented a more severe global neurocognitive impairment evidenced in their GDS, both at baseline (F = 5.53; p˂ .01) and at 3‐year follow‐up (F = 4.16; p˂ .01). Moreover, a subgroup of participants with DAP between 7.40 and 18.36 months showed a specific attentional decline over the 3‐year follow‐up (F = 3.089; p˂ .05).The logistic regression model showed that sex (Wald = 7.29, p