Severity of symptoms in chronically institutionalized geriatric schizophrenic patients

Abstract

The older schizophrenic patients continued to experience psychotic and nonpsychotic symptoms in senescence. Their positive symptoms were moderately less severe and their negative symptoms and cognitive impairment were significantly more severe than those of the younger patients. Somatic treatment appeared not to be responsible for the severe cognitive impairment and negative symptoms of the older patients. These data are relevant to chronically hospitalized geriatric schizophrenic patients but not necessarily to all geriatric schizophrenic patients.