RESUMO
PURPOSE: This study was conducted to investigate the prognostic factors of postpsychotic depressive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighty patients were selected based on the diagnostic criteria from the DSM-IV, PANSS and ESRS. For all patients information was collected on demographic and clinical characteristics. The subjective depressive symptoms and the objective depressive symptoms, as well as patients insight regarding psychosis were evaluated. The subjective depressive symptoms were evaluated by BDI and ZDS; the objective depressive symptoms were evaluated by HDRS and CDSS, and patient insight into the psychosis was evaluated by KISP. RESULTS: The comparisons using demographic and clinical characteristics showed that HDRS and CDSS had significant difference with regard to gender and suicide attempts; the BDI was associated with difference in education level and age of onset. The patients with scores above cuff-off score for each scale were 20 (25.0%) for the BDI, 16 (20.0%) for the ZDS, 18 (22.5%) for the CDSS and 6 (7.5%) for the HDRS. The results of the stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that the scores for the KISP, education levels, gender and suicide attempts were the main prognostic factors in patients with the psychotic depressive disorder of schizophrenia. CONCLUSION: The main prognostic factors in psychotic depressive disorder of schizophrenia included: insight into psychosis, suicidal attempts. Insight into the psychosis was the most reliable prognostic factor but this characteristic had a negative relationship to the with depressive symptoms.