OBJECTIVE: The goal was to compare clinical and neuropsychological
characteristics of patients with late-onset schizophrenia, a poorly studied
and controversial entity, with those of patients with early- onset
schizophrenia and normal subjects. METHOD: The authors evaluated 25
patients who met DSM-III-R criteria as well as their own research criteria
for late-onset schizophrenia (i.e., schizophrenia with onset after age 45)
and compared them with 39 patients with early-onset schizophrenia and 35
normal subjects in this nonepidemiologic study. RESULTS: Patients with
late-onset schizophrenia were similar to patients with early-onset
schizophrenia and different from normal subjects on most clinical and
neuropsychological variables assessed, such as psychopathology, family
history, childhood social adjustment, and overall pattern of
neuropsychological impairment. Compared with the early-onset group, the
group with late-onset schizophrenia had a higher percentage of patients who
were ever married, a better work history, and a greater frequency of
paranoid subtype. CONCLUSIONS: These results support the diagnostic
validity of schizophrenia with onset after the age of 45 years.
Abstract Teaser