[Dyskinesias in a clinical population. Results of a comparative follow-up]

646 patients of a psychiatric clinic (272 m, 374 f) have been examined for tardive dyskinesia by two physicians, a neurologist and a psychiatrist. 192 patients exhibited some dyskinetic disturbances (32%). Thus the prevalence in this sample is rather high. The applied rating scale has proved successful (interrater reliability of .88). A year later the same sample of 192 patients (shrunk by 63 patients due to releases from the clinic and cases of death, non availability) was reexamined by the same physicians. The following results are noteworthy: Age exercises the strongest influence on the severity of tardive dyskinesia; women are more heavily affected than men; the clinical differential diagnosis has little influence on the degree of the disturbance; the same holds true for duration of therapy and dose. In the reexamination (computed as a dependent sample on the basis of 129 complete cases) a reduction of the intensity of dyskinesias has been observed. The results are discussed thoroughly from a clinical and methodological point of view.