LONG-TERM FOLLOW-UP OF PATIENTS HOSPITALIZED FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA, 1913 TO 1940

From a sample of 1357 schizophrenic patients hospitalized between 1913 and 1940 at the Phipps Clinic, we particularly studied 484 patients w ith follow-ups of 5 or more years. Of the sample of 1357 patients, 28 (10%) committed suicide. None of the suicides were included in the sam ple of 484, which also eliminated all patients with any previous psych iatric admissions or episodes of mental illness, even without hospital ization On follow-up, only 13% of the 484 were rated recovered, wherea s 58% were rated unimproved. Long-term global follow-up was highly cor related with discharge status. Subgroups retrospectively diagnosed by DSM-TV criteria were significantly related to long-term follow-up in t he sample of 484 patients, there being a continuum of poor outcome ran ging from the diagnoses schizophrenia through schizophreniform to scki zoaffective. Poor follow-up was significantly correlated with poor pre morbid history, gradual onset, lack of depressive symptoms and heredit y, seclusive personality, lack of precipitating events, lack of confus ion, single status, onset before age 21, delusions of control, onset 6 months or more before admission, and emotional blunting. These variab les were used to construct a validated prognostic scale. More recent t reatment results have been contrasted with these findings from an earl ier non-drug treatment era.