Am J Psychiatry 1988; 145:695-700
Copyright © 1988 by American Psychiatric Association
Refining the diagnosis of schizophreniform disorder
M Beiser, JA Fleming, WG Iacono and TY Lin
Division of Social and Cultural Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Schizophreniform disorder, a potentially useful construct, is difficult to
operationalize either for clinical or research purposes. According to
DSM-III-R, schizophreniform disorder is descriptively identical to
schizophrenia, differing only in duration of symptoms. This study suggests
several features that, at initial examination, differentiate
schizophreniform disorder from schizophrenia, such as higher DSM-III axis V
ratings, lack of flattened affect, and better rapport with the examiner.
The data suggest that when defined according to appropriate clinical
criteria, schizophreniform disorder can be distinguished from either
schizophrenia or affective disorder.
