BACKGROUND: Schizophrenia may follow a course of amelioration, deterioration or stability. It is possible that deterioration at the aggregate level may be due to a sub-group of patients with a tendency to deteriorate. AIMS: To examine the course of schizophrenia in a national population-based cohort. METHODS: All first admissions for schizophrenia in Israel 1978-1986 were followed for readmissions in the Israeli psychiatric hospitalization registry for 10 years (n=6865). Readmission rates were examined using cluster analysis. This was followed by an examination of changes in readmission patterns. RESULTS: Cluster analysis identified a small cluster of patients who spent more days in the hospital over time and two clusters that improved. A priori classification of the patients into deteriorating, improving and stable (based on days hospitalized per year) revealed that approximately 75% of patients improved over time. CONCLUSIONS: Over time a majority of patients appear to improve and a minority appear to deteriorate.
BACKGROUND:Schizophrenia may follow a course of amelioration, deterioration or stability. It is possible that deterioration at the aggregate level may be due to a sub-group of patients with a tendency to deteriorate. AIMS: To examine the course of schizophrenia in a national population-based cohort. METHODS: All first admissions for schizophrenia in Israel 1978-1986 were followed for readmissions in the Israeli psychiatric hospitalization registry for 10 years (n=6865). Readmission rates were examined using cluster analysis. This was followed by an examination of changes in readmission patterns. RESULTS: Cluster analysis identified a small cluster of patients who spent more days in the hospital over time and two clusters that improved. A priori classification of the patients into deteriorating, improving and stable (based on days hospitalized per year) revealed that approximately 75% of patients improved over time. CONCLUSIONS: Over time a majority of patients appear to improve and a minority appear to deteriorate.
Authors: Maju Mathews; Srihari Gopal; Isaac Nuamah; Ludger Hargarter; Adam J Savitz; Edward Kim; Wilson Tan; Bernardo Soares; Christoph U Correll Journal: Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat Date: 2019-05-21 Impact factor: 2.570
Authors: Marco Innamorati; Stefano Baratta; Cristina Di Vittorio; David Lester; Paolo Girardi; Maurizio Pompili; Mario Amore Journal: Schizophr Res Treatment Date: 2013-01-21