Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Email this article to a Colleague Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My Articles & Searches Download to citation manager Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Articles by Auslander, L. A. Articles by Jeste, D. V. Search for Related Content PubMed Citation Articles by Auslander, L. A. Articles by Jeste, D. V. Geriatric Psychiatry Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders

Sustained Remission of Schizophrenia Among Community-Dwelling Older Outpatients

OBJECTIVE: The frequency and nature of sustained remission of schizophrenia are controversial. METHOD: The authors assessed the prevalence of sustained remission among 155 middle-aged and elderly outpatients living independently. They compared patients with sustained remission to symptomatic schizophrenia patients and normal comparison subjects using standardized psychopathological, cognitive, and functional measures. RESULTS: Eight percent of the older schizophrenia patients living independently met criteria for sustained remission. Their level of psychopathology was similar to that in normal subjects and lower than that in symptomatic patients. On cognition, quality of well-being, and everyday functioning, the group with sustained remission was intermediate between the normal and symptomatic groups and differed significantly from the normal subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Sustained remission can occur even in older patients with very chronic illness, but its prevalence is lower than that in several published reports. Remission may reflect a return to premorbid functioning, consistent with neurodevelopmental hypotheses of schizophrenia.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. I. Cohen, I. Vahia, P. Reyes, S. Diwan, A. O. Bankole, N. Palekar, M. Kehn, and P. Ramirez Focus on Geriatric Psychiatry: Schizophrenia in Later Life: Clinical Symptoms and Social Well-being Psychiatr Serv, March 1, 2008; 59(3): 232 - 234. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				I. V. Vahia and C. I. Cohen Psychosocial Interventions and Successful Aging: New Paradigms for Improving Outcome for Older Schizophrenia Patients? Am J Geriatr Psychiatry, December 1, 2007; 15(12): 987 - 990. [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. V Jeste Can Medication-Free Research Ever Be Ethical in Older People With Psychotic Disorders? Schizophr Bull, April 1, 2006; 32(2): 303 - 304. [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. P. LIBERMAN and A. KOPELOWICZ Sustained Remission of Schizophrenia Am J Psychiatry, September 1, 2005; 162(9): 1763 - 1763. [Full Text] [PDF]

Get information about faster international access.

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2004 American Psychiatric Association. All rights reserved.

Home | Search | Current Issue | Past Issues | Subscribe | All APPI Journals | Help | Contact Us