Associative changes in hospitalized schizophrenics during a 16-year period.

After a mean test-retest period of 16 years a sample of 39 initially chronic as well as acute/subacute schizophrenic patients showed a statistically significant normalization of associative performance. This finding was corroborated by a cross-sectional comparison between the same 39 patients and a sample of chronic schizophrenics (n = 26)) tested 16 years ago. The findings were attributed to effects of psychotropic drugs and improved psychiatric treatment.