Gender differences in a sample of schizophrenic outpatients

Our objective was to study gender differences in schizophrenia, comparing c linical, social, and illness course characteristics. A sample of 239 schizo phrenic (DSM-IV criteria) outpatients were administered the following instr uments: service use and demographic questionnaires, the Positive and Negati ve Symptom Scale (PANSS), the Disability Assessment Scale (DAS), and the Gl obal Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale. The female to male ratio was 1/ 2. Men had an earlier age at onset. Women were more likely to be married an d to live independently, and there were more unemployed men. Social functio ning was slightly better in women (lower DAS scoring). No differences were found in symptomatological variables (global or separate PANSS scales), nor in type of schizophrenia. Course of illness in the past year appeared to b e similar, except for longer hospital stays in men. We conclude that schizo phrenic women had a significantly better social functioning, despite the la ck of remarkable symptomatic differences between genders. Copyright (C) 200 1 by W.B. Saunders Company.