Schizophrenic symptom change with rehospitalization.

Abstract

EXCEPT for case studies, most of the literature in which specific signs and symptoms are empirically associated with a diagnosis of "schizophrenia" or "schizophrenic reaction" consists of reports of cross-sectional data associated with a single hospitalization. Relatively little systematic attention has been paid to the consistency of schizophrenic symptoms over time and over multiple hospitalizations. The purpose of this study is to examine the presenting complaints, signs and symptoms, which required two hospitalizations of the same group of patients over a two-year period. Each individual's symptoms and diagnosis on an index hospitalization are compared with those on readmission. <h3>Subjects and Methods</h3> Subjects were drawn from the total group of 403 enlisted men discharged from the Psychiatry Service of Walter Reed General Hospital with a final diagnosis of schizophrenic reaction during the period of February 1962 to May 1963.