Developmental and neurologic correlates of treatment response in schizophrenia

Reliable predictors of outcome in schizophrenia remain elusive, and assessment of unidimensional variables is unlikely to provide new information. We examined developmental, neurologic and psychosocial variables together to assess their correlation with several separate aspects of outcome in male schizophrenic patients (N = 31) treated with neuroleptics for a minimum of six months. Outcome measures evaluating social performance were significantly inter-correlated, but these measures did not correlate significantly with "positive" symptom measures. Persistent positive symptoms were predicted by post-natal neurologic impairment. Persistent negative symptoms and social dysfunction were predicted by psychosocial dysfunction during the developmental years. Poor early treatment response significantly correlated with persistent positive symptoms and psychosocial dysfunction. Impairment on neurobehavioral testing correlated significantly with post-natal neurologic impairment and with persistent positive symptoms.