Abstract
Background: Schizophreniform disorder remains poorly understood and has been reported probably to be a heterogeneous group of psychotic disorders. Method: This study compared first-episode schizophreniform disorder ( N=12) and schizophrenia ( N=18) patients. The authors propose that schizophreniform disorder has a different type of onset and outcome than schizophrenia. Patients were given extensive assessments at initial evaluation, 6 month follow-up, and 24 month follow-up. Comparisons between the two groups were made on type of onset, demographic, clinical ratings and outcome variables. Results: Patients with schizophreniform disorder compared to patients with schizophrenia were more likely to have an acute onset ( P=0.003), and have recovered by 6 months ( P=0.03). However, there were no differences in outcome at 24 months. Furthermore, all schizophreniform cases except for two were re-diagnosed at 24 months as having schizophrenia. Conclusions: The findings suggest that the initial differences of schizophreniform disorder compared to schizophrenia were not apparent at 24 months follow-up. Schizophreniform disorder did not emerge as a highly distinctive and stable form of psychosis that merits a diagnostic classification separate from schizophrenia.
Published Version
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