Depressive symptoms in first episode schizophrenic patients / 中国神经精神疾病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective 　To investigate the prevalence, characteristics and correlates of depressive symptoms in first episode schizophrenic patients. Methods　To examine 164 first episode schizophrenic patients at the time of admission and at 3,6,9, and 12 months after starting treatment using the HAMD, BPRS, the Chinese version of SANS, CGI and GAF. Results　71% of the patients had depressive symptoms (mild or more) at damission, but the prevalence of depressive symptoms dropped to a mean of 12% during the recovery period. The most prominent depressive symptoms during the acute phase of schizophrenia were ‘cognitive disturbance’ and ‘retardation’ (the respective subscales constituted 35% and 29% of the total HAMD score on admission). Depressive symptoms improved in parallel with the schizophrenic illness. The severity of depressive symptoms was not related to gender, age of onset, educational level, duration of prodromal period or duration of illness. At admission the severity of depressive symptoms was only related to the BPRS anxiety and depression subscale score, but during the recovery period the HAMD total score was significantly correlated with all of the other clinical scales. The level of depressive symptoms at admission and at three months after starting treatment was not related to the subsequent course of positive or negative symptoms. Conclusions　Depressive symptoms appeared to be a separate symptom cluster during the acute phase of first episode schizophrenia. The severity of depressive symptoms did not predict the clinical outcome of first episode schizophrenic patients.