Abstract
Background: There is evidence that the stage of illness at which antipsychotic treatment
is initiated in schizophrenia may have consequences for its subsequent course. How
this might relate to impaired adaptive life functioning in the long-term is poorly
understood.
Methods: Thirty-eight inpatients, many of whom had been admitted in the preneuroleptic
era, were assessed using the Social-Adaptive Functioning Evaluation (SAFE); constituent
clinical and medication phases of the lifetime trajectory of their illnesses were
then analyzed to identify predictors of SAFE score using multiple regression modeling.
Results: The primary, independent predictor of SAFE score was duration of initially
unmedicated psychosis, which accounted for 22% of variance (p < .001) therein. Conversely, duration of subsequently treated illness, although decades
longer, failed to predict SAFE score.
Conclusions: These findings are consistent with some form of “progressive” process,
particularly over the first several years following the emergence of psychosis, which
is associated with accrual of deficits in adaptive life functioning.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
January 11,
2000
Received in revised form:
December 13,
1999
Received:
August 19,
1999
Identification
Copyright
© 2000 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
