ABSTRACT
To determine gender differences in the symptoms and age of onset of schizophrenia in Bahraini patients. 112 Bahraini patients with schizophrenia who were initially involved in a genetic study were selected. The OPCRIT 3.31 checklist was applied as a diagnostic tool. OPCRIT items were analyzed for differences between males and females. No differences were found between males and females in the studied symptoms of schizophrenia and age of onset as "the earliest age at which medical advice was sought for psychiatric reasons or at which symptoms began to cause subjective distress or impair functioning". This finding was found in both the familial and sporadic groups of schizophrenia. Furthermore, OPCRIT was found to be an equally reliable tool in diagnosing schizophrenia in males and females. The above findings were compared and contrasted to the findings of other studies. While there is agreement regarding the lack of gender difference in the prevalence of the studied symptoms of schizophrenia, there is no such consensus regarding the gender difference in the age of onset of schizophrenia. Caution should be taken with studies that make conclusions concerning this issue until a precise operational definition for the onset of the illness is derived