PREDICTION OF THE DEFICIT SYNDROME FROM INITIAL DEFICIT SYMPTOMS IN THE EARLY COURSE OF SCHIZOPHRENIA

The Proxy for the Deficit Syndrome (PDS) was used with longitudinal sy mptom assessment data to identify recent-onset schizophrenia patients with the deficit syndrome. We evaluated the stability of deficit sympt oms using repeated assessments. Symptom ratings were examined at an in itial point of outpatient stabilization on antipsychotic medication as well as prospectively over the subsequent 12 months of outpatient tre atment and assessment in 83 recent-onset schizophrenia patients. The v ast majority of patients who were classified as non-deficit at the cro ss-sectional baseline assessment continued to remain non-deficit throu ghout the first year of treatment. However, patients classified as def icit at baseline did not consistently remain classified as showing def icit syndrome during the follow-through period. Thus, the presence of deficit symptoms detected in a single cross-sectional rating may be an inaccurate way to rate the deficit syndrome, yielding excessive false positives. Our use of longitudinal data allowed the stability criteri on of the deficit syndrome to be evaluated using the PDS. (C) 1998 Els evier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.