10-YEAR OUTCOME OF TARDIVE-DYSKINESIA

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the long-term outco me of patients with tardive dyskinesia. Method: A group of 122 neurole ptic-treated Hungarian outpatients were assessed for tardive dyskinesi a on the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale and the Tardive Dyskinesi a Rating Scale by the same rater over a 10-year period. Results: Sixty -three of the patients received both 5- and 10-year follow-up assessme nts and are the subjects of this report. The overall prevalence of tar dive dyskinesia in this group changed little over time; it was 30.2% a t baseline, 36.5% at 5 years, and 31.7% at 10 years. However, there we re changes in the tardive dyskinesia status of individual patients; 11 patients had remissions, and 12 who did not have tardive dyskinesia a t the baseline assessment had developed it by the 10-year assessment. These two subgroups did not differ significantly on demographic and dr ug history variables. Outcome of tardive dyskinesia was not significan tly related to neuroleptic treatment or to age. Conclusions: The data of this 10-year follow-up study provide evidence for the long-term sta bility of tardive dyskinesia and for the feasibility of maintenance ne uroleptic therapy for chronic psychotic patients who have tardive dysk inesia.