A 15-20 YEAR FOLLOW-UP OF ADULT PSYCHIATRIC-PATIENTS - PSYCHIATRIC-DISORDER AND SOCIAL FUNCTIONING

Background. An exploratory study was undertaken of the importance of p ersonality disorder in predicting the long-term outcome for both episo dic disorders and social functioning. Method. In 1966-67, a representa tive series of patients with children, free of episodic illness for at least one year, was sampled from the Camberwell Psychiatric Register and systematically assessed over a four-year period, using measures of known reliability and validity. Psychiatric disorder was measured usi ng a PSE-compatible instrument. The follow-up after 15-20 years used t he PSE and a systematic assessment of social functioning. Results. Ove rall outcomes were similar across diagnoses, but an initial categorica l diagnosis of personality disorder predicted much poorer outcomes on psychiatric and social measures for patients with unipolar depressive disorders than for those with other diagnoses. Conclusions. The findin gs indicate the importance for prognosis of including a systematic ass essment of personality disorder in the clinical assessment of patients with depressive disorder.