title: Insight and recovery in schizophrenic patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the correlation between insight and recovery in schizophrenic patients according to criteria for both symptomatic and functional remission.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy patients affected by paranoid schizophrenia were recruited and treated with olanzapine, risperidone, aripiprazole, haloperidol and ziprasidone; visits were scheduled at baseline, 12 and 36 months. We administered PANSS (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale), GAF (Global Assessment of Functioning), SF-36 (Short Form 36 Health Survey), PGWBI (Psychological General Well-Being index) and SAI (Schedule for the Assessment of Insight).
  
  
  RESULTS
  After 1 year, 50% of the subjects obtained symptom remission and 25.5% had adequate social functioning for 2 years or more. Only 12% of subjects met full recovery criteria for 2 years or longer. The recovery group also showed an improvement in insight levels, especially patients treated with second-generation antipsychotics (SGA). Recovery was predicted by female sex, higher age, SGA treatment, pre-morbid social adaptation and low level of negative symptoms at baseline.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Only a small proportion of schizophrenic patients achieved recovery, therefore greater patient's insight could have prognostic validity in terms of treatment outcome. More sensitive instruments and a larger sample are necessary to confirm these results.
authors.affiliation: a Psychiatry Unit , Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine - 'Policlinico - Vittorio Emanuele' University Hospital of Catania , Catania , Italy.
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cannavò
authors.affiliation: a Psychiatry Unit , Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine - 'Policlinico - Vittorio Emanuele' University Hospital of Catania , Catania , Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Minutolo
authors.affiliation: a Psychiatry Unit , Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine - 'Policlinico - Vittorio Emanuele' University Hospital of Catania , Catania , Italy.
authors.forename: Eliana
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Battaglia
authors.affiliation: a Psychiatry Unit , Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine - 'Policlinico - Vittorio Emanuele' University Hospital of Catania , Catania , Italy.
authors.forename: Eugenio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aguglia
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D032882:Comprehension; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012074:Remission Induction; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents
keywords: Antipsychotics; insight; recovery; schizophrenia