Impact of duration of symptoms prior to first hospitalization on acute outcome in 998 schizophrenic patients

The hypothesis that a longer duration of symptoms prior to first hospitaliz ation is associated with a poorer treatment response was prospectively inve stigated in 998 first-hospitalized schizophrenic patients. Results indicate that most indicators of outcome were worse when the duration of symptoms w as long. This was also true when age, gender, as well as the acuteness of i llness were controlled for in the analyses. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.