AGE OF ONSET IN SCHIZOPHRENIA - RELATIONS TO PSYCHOPATHOLOGY AND GENDER

This retrospective study evaluated differences between patients with f irst manifestation of schizophrenic psychosis (ICD 295) or paranoid sy ndrome (ICD 297) between the ages of 18 and 23 or 40 and 63 years. Gen der-specific variations in psychopathology were also examined. The num erous analyses of variance gave few significant differences. Patients with a late onset of the disease scored higher on depressive and auton omic syndrome scales at admission, whereas patients with an early onse t showed more psychosocial impairment at discharge and their stay in h ospital was longer. Among schizophrenic patients only (ICD 297 exclude d), only the higher score for autonomic syndrome of the older patients at admission was confirmed. Men were more apathetic at admission and discharge than were women. Excluding patients with a paranoid syndrome , these differences were again significant. Moreover, schizophrenic me n had higher depressive and psycho-organic syndrome scores at discharg e. The demonstration of only marginal differences between early- and l ate-onset schizophrenia does not support the assumption that age of on set markedly influences psychopathology.