Six-year follow-up of patients with carefully diagnosed good- and poor-prognosis schizophrenia

Forty-nine probands, diagnosed according to objective diagnostic criteria as having good- or poor-prognosis schizophrenia, were interviewed 6 years after being diagnosed to assess outcome measured by the Strauss-Carpenter outcome scale, global ratings made by experienced clinicians, and Feighner criteria. The majority of poor-prognosis probands were doing poorly, had a higher than expected number of suicides or probable suicides, and had evidence of organic impairment. The authors conclude that poor prognosis can be accurately predicted when longitudinal factors are embedded in the diagnostic criteria and that clinicians should be aware of the substantial risk of suicide and organic impairment with schizophrenia.