Abstract
The aim of the paper was to evaluate rates of clinical remission and recovery according to gender in a cohort of chronic outpatients attending a university community mental health center who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder according to DSM-IV-TR. A sample of 100 consecutive outpatients (70 males and 30 females) underwent comprehensive psychiatric evaluation using the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnosis of Axis I and II DSM-IV (SCID-I and SCID-II, Version R) and an assessment of psychopathology, social functioning, clinical severity, subjective wellbeing, and quality of life, respectively by means of PANSS (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale), PSP (Personal and Social Performance), CGI-SCH (Clinical Global Impression—Schizophrenia scale), SWN-S (Subjective Well-being under Neuroleptics—scale), and WHOQOL (WHO Quality of Life). Rates of clinical remission and recovery according to different criteria were calculated by gender. Higher rates of clinical remission and recovery were generally observed in females than males, a result consistent with literature data. Overall findings from the paper support the hypothesis of a better outcome of the disorders in women, even in the very long term.
Highlights
The importance of gender differences in psychiatry is widely acknowledged, given its relevance for a better understanding of biological and psychosocial risk factors, time course, outcome, and response to treatments of major mental disorders, in particular schizophrenia and psychotic spectrum disorders [1,2,3,4]
The aim of the paper was to evaluate rates of clinical remission and recovery according to gender in a cohort of chronic outpatients attending a university community mental health center who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder according to DSM-IV-TR
Taking into account the limited number of studies conducted on psychotic patients in community settings and evaluated by means of operationalized criteria, the present study aimed to evaluate rates of clinical remission and recovery according to gender in a cohort of chronic outpatients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder who were attending a community mental health center
Summary
The importance of gender differences in psychiatry is widely acknowledged, given its relevance for a better understanding of biological and psychosocial risk factors, time course, outcome, and response to treatments of major mental disorders, in particular schizophrenia and psychotic spectrum disorders [1,2,3,4]. A significant body of data revealed gender differences in terms of incidence rates, neurobiological factors, familial transmission, age of onset, clinical features, course and outcome, treatment response, compliance, and tolerability of drug treatments [2, 3, 8, 9]. A higher age of onset, better premorbid functioning, and a more favorable course of the disease may justify the better clinical and social outcome generally observed in women [10]. Notwithstanding the large amount of data relating to clinical and psychosocial outcome in schizophrenia and related disorders, only a limited number of studies to date have evaluated clinical outcome using
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