A 27-year follow-up of patients with borderline personality disorder

Sixty-four patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) were followed up for a mean of 27 years. Outcome was assessed using the Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines, Revised (DIB-R); the Schedule for DSM-III-R Diagnosis (SCID); Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF); the Symptom Check List-90 (SCL-90); and the Social Adjustment Scale (SAS-SR). Most patients showed significant improvement as compared to a previous 15-year follow-up, with only five currently meeting criteria for BPD. Mean GAF score was 63.3, mean SCL-90 raw score was 0.7, and mean SAS-SR score was 2.0. Fourteen subjects met SCID criteria for dysthymia, and this subgroup had a significantly poorer outcome on all measures. The total percentage of suicides from the original cohort has reached 10.3%, with 18.2% of all patients now deceased.