Epidemiology of First-Episode Schizophrenia: the Suffolk County Mental Health Project (IN: The Early Stages of Schizophrenia, edited by R B Zipursky and C S Schulz)

This article presents an epidemiological study of the course of illness in patients with psychotic symptoms selected at the time of their first hospitalization. The authors focus on the stability of the diagnosis of schizophrenia; the comparison of illness course by diagnosis; & the predictors of illness course including age, gender, substance abuse, suicide history, premorbid social competence, illness duration & severity, & treatment. (29 refs)