VALIDITY OF CHILDHOOD DISINTEGRATIVE PSYCHOSIS - GENERAL FINDINGS OF A LONG-TERM FOLLOW-UP-STUDY

Background Empirical evidence for the validity or the diagnostic label 'disintegrative psychosis' is sparse. The issue of whether it is a se parate form of infantile autism is unresolved. Method To investigate t he validity of disintegrative psychosis as defined in ICD-9, the natur al history of 13 cases were compared with 39 matched cases of infantil e autism on various outcome variables. Average follow-up time was 22 ( 11-33) years. Results Statistically significant differences were found between the two groups in terms of number of admissions to nbn-psychi atric departments, occurrence of comorbid epilepsy social style, and s core on the Global Assessment of Functioning scale. In most other area s assessed there was a tendency, although statistically insignificant, towards a better outcome in the infantile autism comparison group. Co nclusions Our findings provide some support for maintaining a diagnost ic category of disintegrative psychosis as distinct from infantile aut ism.