Clinical Features Characterizing Young-Onset and Intermediate-Onset Schizophrenia

Late-onset schizophrenia has been noted to have distinct clinical characteristics. The authors compared symptom characteristics between early- and intermediate-onset patients (N=259) to determine whether clinical features distinguished differences within younger populations. On global measures of psychotic, disorganized, and negative symptoms, early-onset patients had greater disorganized and negative symptoms but did not differ in hallucinations and delusions. The dichotomy of early vs. late onset may extend to a younger population, reflecting a more continuous influence.