Am J Psychiatry 1978; 135:940-944
Copyright © 1978 by American Psychiatric Association
Signs and symptoms as predictors of outcome: a report from the International Pilot Study of Schizophrenia
WT Carpenter, JJ Bartko, JS Strauss and AB Hawk
The prognostic significance of signs and symptoms taken individually rather
than in diagnostic clusters was investigated in 61 schizophrenic patients
seen at 5-year follow-up in the Washington Center of the International
Pilot Study of Schizophrenia. Best and worst outcome patients (Ns = 20)
were selected on the basis of total outcome score from a reliable 9-item
schedule; 21 middle-outcome patients were excluded. Data from these two
groups were analyzed to determine which signs and symptoms assessed 5 years
previously were associated with outcome. Only restricted affect predicted
poor outcome: depression, anxiety, and nuclear symptoms of schizophrenia
were not significant predictors. The findings are discussed within the
conceptual framework of productive and defect symptoms.
