title: Clinical features characterizing young-onset and intermediate-onset schizophrenia.
abstract: Late-onset schizophrenia has been noted to have distinct clinical characteristics. The authors compared symptom characteristics between early- and intermediate-onset patients (N = 259) to determine whether clinical features distinguished differences within younger populations. On global measures of psychotic, disorganized, and negative symptoms, early-onset patients had greater disorganized and negative symptoms but did not differ in hallucinations and delusions. The dichotomy of early vs. late onset may extend to a younger population, reflecting a more continuous influence.
authors.affiliation: University of Iowa, Department of Psychiatry, Mental Health Clinical Research Center, Iowa City, USA. susan-schultz@uiowa.edu
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Schultz
authors.forename: B C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: N C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Andreasen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D017668:Age of Onset; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index