The deficit syndrome in the Suffolk County Mental Health Project.

Patients with schizophrenia in the Suffolk County Mental Health Project were categorized into groups with (n = 32) and without (n = 52) the deficit syndrome, using a case identification method based on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. The deficit group had a lower level of function at both index admission and 24-month follow-up; these differences could not be attributed to group differences in demographic variables, chronicity of illness, or a greater severity of psychosis in the deficit syndrome group. The number of patients categorized as deficit was greater at 24 months (34%) than at 6 months (25%).