Am J Psychiatry 1997; 154:205-210
Copyright © 1997 by American Psychiatric Association
Age-related differences in formal thought disorder in chronically hospitalized schizophrenic patients: a cross-sectional study across nine decades
PD Harvey, J Lombardi, M Leibman, M Parrella, L White, P Powchik, RC Mohs, M Davidson and KL Davis
Department of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA.
OBJECTIVE: This study used a cross-sectional design to examine the
frequency of occurrence and severity of 10 different signs of thought
disorder in schizophrenic patients across the lifespan. METHOD:
Schizophrenic patients, who ranged in age from 19 to 96 years (N = 392),
were examined with the Scale for Assessment of Thought, Language, and
Communication. The cognitive functioning of the geriatric patients
(patients over the age of 64, N = 120) was also assessed. RESULTS: Poverty
of speech was more common and more severe in geriatric patients, while four
different signs of thought disorder that reflect disconnected speech were
less common and less severe in geriatric patients. Analysis of covariance
found that the lower severity of disconnection thought disorders in the
older patients was not attributable to differences in the amount of speech
produced. CONCLUSIONS: Aspects of disconnected speech were less severe in
older patients, while the severity and frequency of poverty of speech were
greater. These findings suggest that the two previously identified separate
dimensions of communication disorder in schizophrenia vary differently with
age and possibly in their cognitive and biological underpinnings.
