172 A.335. DURATION OF UNTREATED SYMPTOMS, IN FIRST ONSET PSYCHOSIS AND PATHWAYS TO CARE C. Morgan*, M.S. Sharpley, G. Hutchinson, S. Vearnals, J. Kelly, T. Grant, K. Morgan, K. Greenwood, J. MacCabe, P. Dazzan, K. Orr, J. Salvo, R. Mallett, R. Murray, J. Left *Social Psychiatry Section, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF. England Background: It has been suggested that psychotic illnesses, if untreated, are characterised by a worsening of the severity and quantity of symptoms. This deterioration is also likely to be related to adverse pathways to care, such as compulsory admis- sion. We sought to explore the relationship between duration of untreated symptoms (DUS), number of symptoms, and pathways to care in a sample of first onset psychosis patients. Method: Data relating to DUS, number of symptoms, path- ways to service use, and socio-demographic characteristics were collected on 91 first onset psychosis patients, recruited as part of a larger first onset psychosis study (AESOP), using case notes and the WHO Personal and Psychiatric History Schedule. Results: The mean duration of untreated symptoms was 43.5 weeks (SD 97.62, median i 1 ), though this calculation includes two outliers of 520 and 705 weeks. The mean number of symptoms is 6.1 (SD 3.3). There was a significant positive correlation between weeks of untreated symptoms and number of symptoms (rho = 0.32, p < 0.01 ). ne way analyses of variance revealed no significant associations between DUS and pathways to care. This also applied to number of symptoms. Conclusion: A mean treatment lag of 43.5 weeks is in line with previous research, but this is increased significantly by the inclusion of outliers. Our findings add support to the hypothesis that delays in accessing treatment are associated with more symptoms. However, since neither DUS nor number of symp- toms is associated with pathways to care, our findings suggest that determinants of initial service contact may not be related to early clinical course. A.336. PREMORBID PERSONALITY, PATHOGENESIS AND COMPULSORY ADMISSION AMONG FIRST-ONSET PSYCHOTIC PATIENTS? M.S. Sharpley*, G. Hutchinson, C. Morgan, S. Vearnals, J. Kelly, T. Grant, K. Greenwood, K. Morgan, J. MacCabe, P. Dazzan, K. Orr, J. Salvo, R. Mallett, R. Murray, J. Left *Social Psychiatry Section, Institute of Psychiatry. De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, England Introduction: It is generally accepted that abnormal premorbid personality traits are present in many patients who develop schizophrenia. Patients with schizophrenia are also more likely to have more adverse pathways to care when compared with patients with less severe mental illnesses. We sought to identify whether the presence of premorbid personality traits affected the duration of untreated illness, number of symptoms, pathway to care or compulsory admission among first-onset psychotic patients. Method: Interviews of close relatives (usually the mother) of 55 first-onset psychotic patients were conducted using The Psychiatric and Personal History Schedule (PPHS), the Assessment of Pre-Morbid Schizoid-Schizotypal Traits (PSST), and the Premorbid Adjustment Scale (PAS). Results: Number of symptoms was greater among those patients with higher PSST scores (rho=0.327, p=0.032). For both the PSST and PAS, the duration of untreated illness was not longer among those with higher abnormal premorbid scores. Similarly, adverse pathways to care (i.e. police involve- ment) and compulsory admission were not more frequent among those with higher abnormal premorbid scores. Conclusion: The presence of premorbid abnormality, while significantly present in this group of first onset psychotic patients, is only related to the number of presenting symptoms, Duration of untreated illness, pathways to care and rates of compulsory admission do not appear to be related to abnormal premorbid personality in first onset psychosis. A.337. A COMPARISON OF PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS BETWEEN FIRST-EPISODE PSYCHOTIC PATIENTS AND POPULATION HEALTHY CONTROLS L. Tennakoon, D. Fannon, V. Doku, S. O'Ceallaigh, M. Santamaria, D. Bhugra, T. Sharma Section of Cognitive Psychopharmacology, Department of P~3,chologicalMedicine, Department of GeneralPsychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AF It is widely accepted that the course and outcome of schizo- phrenia are affected by both psychosocial and biological factors. The life event-onset relationship in psychosis may be stronger in first or early episodes. Compared with life event rates in a community control sample, there was a marked excess of life events in the 3 months before the onset of psychotic episodes x. The present matched case-control study investigates a compari- son of stressful life events of first episode psychotic patients and population healthy controls. Patients (n=42) were recruited using SCID (Structured Clinical Interview for DSM/IV Axis's Disorders) from a defined catchment area. Matched population healthy controls (n =42) were recruited from the same geographical area as the patients. Selected control subjects were screened using SCID-Non Patient's Version. Life events were rated using the Life Events Inventory2. The patient sample consisted of 73.8% male and 34.4% female patients. The mean age of the patients was 25 years (range 18-39 years). We found excess negative life events among patients compared to control subjects using Logistic Regression analysis. The odds of having a 'death of an immedi- ate family member' in the family was 3 times higher among