Positive and negative subtypes of schizophrenia. A follow-up study from India

98 schizophrenic patients who were initially studied to examine the concept of positive and negative subtyping, were followed up for a period ranging from 18 to 30 months. Follow-up data were available for 79 patients. The major findings of the study are significant reduction in positive symptom scores and the number of patients in the positive subtype of schizophrenia. The mixed subtype of schizophrenics increased in number and at follow-up there were significantly more mixed subtype schizophrenics who did not meet criteria for either the positive or negative subtype, i.e., who had little of either type of symptomatology. The number of schizophrenics categorized as negative subtype, as well as negative symptom scores did not change appreciably. The results of the study indicate that the negative symptoms seem to become more stable over a period of time.