Age on first hospitalization of schizophrenics: A developmental approach.

Abstract

Ages of first hospitalization were compared among 64 (VA) Veterans Administration hospital male, 60 state hospital male, and 60 state hospital female schizophrenic patients. Those who were diagnosed as paranoid were found to be approximately 8 years older than the nonparanoid patients on age of first admission. In both diagnostic categories men were hospitalized about 5 years earlier than women. An analysis of the relation between work status and diagnosis for the female groups revealed that working women with a diagnosis of paranoid were hospitalized approximately 10 years later than the paranoid women who remained at home and the nonparanoid women of either employment status. State hospital males were younger on first admission than VA hospital males. The ages of the two diagnostic groups in the VA were comparable, whereas in the state hospital the nonparanoid group was younger than the paranoid group by about 8 years. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed, particularly in terms of the role of the individual's developmental level in premorbid functioning, diagnosis, and course of psychiatric illness. The need to pay greater attention to the differences between schizophrenic males and females and to scrutinize more closely differences between state and VA hospital patients is emphasized.

Predictors for readmission risk in schizophrenia

“…The findings regarding the effect of age on readmission risk are in agreement with studies of the association between age and more general measurements of outcome (Rosen et al 1971;Zigler & Levine, 1981;Westermeyer & Harrow, 1988) as well as with a generally increased risk of a 'revolving door' hospitalization pattern in first admitted psychiatric patients (Kastrup, 1987). One recent study of rehospitalization risk in schizophrenia did not find any effect of age (Munk-Jorgensen et al 1991), but this may be a result of the more limited sample size in that study.…”

Longitudinal Courses of Thought Disorder in Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorder

“…These data consisted of patient age, gender, marital status, and social class and type of illness onset. Age at hospitalization has been associated with psychiatric prognosis in previous research (Rosen et al 1971;Bromet et al 1974;Zigler and Levine 1981;Westermeyer and Harrow 1986). This research hypothesized that patients who were older at index hospitalization (i 25 years old) would show a more benign course of thought disorder symptoms.…”

Painting Group Portraits: Studying Life Outcomes for Aggressive and Withdrawn Children

“…The future of these individuals may include problems in several domains Their poor intellectual ability and academic achievement suggest that they will have poor occupational success and low social status m adulthood Their poor social competence and high level of behavior problems dunng adolescence suggest that they will have difficulty establishing and maintaining social relationships in adulthood Problems m both occupational achievement and successful maintenance of social relationships are predictive of the development of severe psychopathology (e g , schizophrenia) in adulthood (Zigler & Levine, 1981, Zigler & Phillips, 1960 Thus, the aggressive-withdrawn individuals' occupational and interpersonal problems may lead to or be steps on the path to developing severe psychopathology…”