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Negative Symptoms in Chronic Schizophrenia Relationship to Duration of Illness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Noreen Ring*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Withington Hospital, West Didsbury, Manchester M20 8LR
Digby Tantam
Affiliation:
Walsgrave Hospital, Coventry
Linda Montague
Affiliation:
Bridgewater Hospital, Salford
Julie Morris
Affiliation:
Medical Statistician, Withington Hospital
*
Correspondence

Abstract

The frequency and distribution of negative symptoms in a sample of 40 patients admitted to hospital with RDC-definite schizophrenia were examined. There was a highly significant positive correlation between negative symptom scores obtained using three different rating scales, but the presence of negative symptoms was not significantly related to duration of illness or number of episodes of illness. These findings do not support a model of negative symptoms being the consequence of schizophrenic relapse, but are in favour of their being an integral component of the schizophrenic syndrome, as salient in the first as in later episodes.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © 1991 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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