Outcome of schizophrenia into later life: an overview.

Studies of schizophrenia into later life may provide many of the keys to understanding the disorder. In this paper, recent developments in the study of aging and schizophrenia are reviewed, with particular emphasis on: the course and outcome of psychopathological symptoms; cognitive, neurological, and other organic factors; and social functioning. Four basic postulates about schizophrenia into later life as well as six themes for future research emerge from the review.