RésuméLe nombre de patients âgés souffrant d'une schizophrénie chronique augmente ; il devrait doubler dans les vingt prochaines années. Avec l'âge avancé, les symptômes positifs de schizophrénie s'amenuisent et une majorité de patients souffrent surtout de symptômes négatifs et de déficits cognitifs. La dépression et les comorbidités somatiques sont également fréquentes. L'amélioration de la qualité des soins repose sur la prise en compte par les psychiatres des particularités diagnostiques et de prise en charge de ces patients. AbstractThe number of older people with chronic schizophrenia increases and is expected to double over the next two decades. Along with a reduction in positive schizophrenic symptoms Page 2 of 12 A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t 2 with increasing age, a majority suffers from negative symptoms and cognitive deficits.Depression and co-morbid medical problems are also frequent. These complex clinical and service needs have to be the focus of interest of psychiatrists to improve quality of care.

A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t The authors thus give a progress report on the question of depression in schizophrenic old patients. The six descriptive studies studied concerning the depressive symptoms at the schizophrenic old patient show that the frequency of the depressive disorders seems more important in this group of patient than in the general population of the same age. The depressive symptoms seem to be more often associated with the positive symptoms than with the negative symptoms. It is not found of association in the studies between depressive symptoms and antipsychotic dose, negative and neurologic symptoms, and deterioration of neurocognitive functioning. We find in this category of patients some of depression's predictive variables of the old general population. The coming out of depressive disorders seems to be associated with severity of schizophrenia's disease and with bad everyday functioning.

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