Impact of duration of symptoms prior to first hospitalization on acute outcome in 998 schizophrenic patients.

The hypothesis that a longer duration of symptoms prior to first hospitalization is associated with a poorer treatment response was prospectively investigated in 998 first-hospitalized schizophrenic patients. Results indicate that most indicators of outcome were worse when the duration of symptoms was long. This was also true when age, gender, as well as the acuteness of illness were controlled for in the analyses.