Schizoaffective disorder : consistency of diagnosis

Seventy six, first episode, drug naive patients of schizoaffective disorder, diagnosed as per DSM-III-R criteria, were followed up over a period of two years in order to verify the consistency of diagnosis. It was observed that only in 14 (18.4%) patients diagnosis did not change over a period of two years. In the majority of the patients (47, 61.9%) the diagnosis changed to schizophrenia. Eight patients (10.5%) had only depressive symptoms during the subsequent episodes and they satisfied the diagnostic criteria for major depression. While 7 (9.2%) patients remained symptom free over the study period and so diagnosis of schizoaffecive disorder could not bejeconfirmed. The paper cautions against the diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder early in course of illness.