Schizoaffective disorder is currently one of the controversial nosological categories. This is due to the absence of clear clinical criteria that would also take into account the longitudinal perspective.

Conducting a research on subjects who currently have diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder and who have had a longitudinal evolution of the condition of minimum 15 years.

To highlight the clinical and evolutive characteristics of schizoaffective disorder.

A follow-up study was conducted on a sample of 44 subjects with a F.25 diagnosis according to ICD 10. This sample was assessed during 2010. The parameters analyzed were: socio-demographic (gender, age of onset, level of schooling, family and professional status at onset and at present) and clinical and evolutive parameters (onset diagnosis, evolution period until the establishment of the diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder, number of admissions, genetic component).

Socio-demographic characteristics are similar to those cited in literature. All subjects have had at onset a different diagnosis than schizoaffective disorder (45.5% - F.23, 31.8% - F.20). The time needed for establishing the diagnosis was on average 5.98 years (std.dev = 3.23). The average number of episodes tends to increase in the evolution period between 20–25 years since onset and decreases again after 25–30 years of evolution.

Schizoaffective disorder is a nosological category difficult to be classified from the onset that rarely manifests with the same type of psychotic episode over the time.