Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T08:00:55.110Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Long-term course of acute brief psychosis in a developing country setting

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2018

Ezra Susser
Affiliation:
Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, USA
Vijoy K. Varma
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
S. K. Mattoo
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
Molly Finnerty
Affiliation:
Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, USA
Ramin Mojtabai
Affiliation:
Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, USA
B. M. Tripathi
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
Arun K. Misra
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
N. N. Wig
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India

Abstract

Background

This study in North India compared acute brief psychosis – defined by acute onset, brief duration and no early relapse – with other remitting psychoses, over a 12-year course and outcome.

Method

In a cohort of incident psychoses, we identified 20 cases of acute brief psychosis and a comparison group of 43 other remitting psychoses based on two-year follow-up. Seventeen people (85%) in the acute brief psychosis group and 36 (84%) in the comparison group were reassessed at five, seven and 12 years after onset, and were rediagnosed using ICD–10 criteria.

Results

At 12-year follow-up, the proportion with remaining signs of illness was 6% (n=1) for acute brief psychosis versus 50% (n=18) for the comparison group (P=0.002). Using ICD–10 criteria, the majority in both groups were diagnosed as having schizophrenia.

Conclusions

Acute brief psychosis has a distinctive and benign long-term course when compared with other remitting psychoses. This finding supports the ICD– 10 concept of a separable group of acute and transient psychotic disorders. To effectively separate this group, however, the ICD–10 criteria need modification.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © 1998 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andreasen, N. C. & Olsen, S. (1982) Negative versus positive schizophrenia: Definition and validation. Archives of General Psychiatry, 39, 789794.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cutting, J. (1990) Relationship between cycloid psychosis and typical affective psychosis. Psychopathology, 23, 212219.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fleiss, J. L. (1981) Statistical Methods for Rates and Proportions. (2nd edn). New York: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Fogelson, D. L. Cohen, B. M. & Pope, H. G. Jr (1982) A study of DSM–III schizophreniform disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 139, 12811285.Google ScholarPubMed
Gilbert, P. L. Harris, M. J. McAdams, L. A. et al (1995) Neuroleptic withdrawal in schizophrenic patients: A review of literature. Archives of General Psychiatry 52, 173188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guineas, E. A. (1992) Brief reactive psychosis and the major functional psychoses: descriptive case studies in Africa. British Journal of Psychiatry, 160 (suppl. 16), 2441.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jablensky, A. Sartorius, N. Ernberg, G. et al (1992) Schizophrenia: Manifestations, Incidence and Course in Different Cultures. A World Health Organization Ten Country Study Psychological Medicine Monograph Supplement 20. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Jorgensen, P. Bennedsen, B. Christensen, J. et al (1997) Acute and transient psychotic disorder: A one-year follow-up study. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 96, 150154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambo, T. A. (1960) Further neuropsychiatric observations in Nigeria with comments on the need for epidemiological study in Africa. British Medical Journal, ii, 1965–1704.Google Scholar
Leonhard, K. (1961) Cycloid psychoses–endogenous psychoses which are neither schizophrenic nor manic-depressive. Journal of Mental Science, 197, 633648.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Menuck, M. Legault, S. Schmidt, P. et al (1989) The nosologic status of the remitting atypical psychoses. Comprehensive Psychiatry 30, 5373.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pichot, P. (1986) The concept of “bouffée délirante” with special reference to the Scandinavian concept of reactive psychosis. Psychopathology, 19, 3543.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strömgren, E. (1974) Psychogenic psychoses. In Themes and Variations in European Psychiatry (eds Hirsh, S. R. & Shepherd, M.), pp. 97117. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia.Google Scholar
Susser, E. & Wanderling, J. (1994) Epidemiology of non-affective acute remitting psychosis v. schizophrenia: Sex and sociocultural setting. Archives of General Psychiatry, 51, 294301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Susser, E. Fenning, S. Jandorf, L. et al (1995 a) Epidemiology, diagnosis and course of brief psychoses. American Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 17431748.Google ScholarPubMed
Susser, E. Varma, V. K. Malhotra, S. et al (1995 b) Delineation of acute and transient psychotic disorder in a developing country setting. British Journal of Psychiatry 167, 216219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Susser, E. Finnerty, M. T. & Sohler, N. (1996) Acute brief psychosis: A diagnosis for ICD–II and DSM–V. Psychiatric Quarterly, 67, 165176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wig, N. N. & Singh, G. (1967) A proposed classification of psychiatric disorders for use in India. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 9, 158171.Google Scholar
Wig, N. N. Varma, B. K. Mattoo, P. B. et al (1993) An Incidence Study of Schizophrenia in India. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 35, 1117.Google ScholarPubMed
Wimmer, A. (1916) Psykogene Sindssygdomsformer. In St. Hans Hospital 1816–1916 Jubilee Publication, pp. 85216. Copenhagen: Gad.Google Scholar
Wing, J. K. Cooper, J. E. & Sartorious, N. (1974) The Measurement and Classification of Psychiatric Symptoms. London: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1988) Psychiatric Disability Assessment Schedule. Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1992) The ICD–10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders, pp. 7176. Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.