Response to the dexamethasone suppression test in schizoaffective disorder, depressed type

Response to the dexamethasone suppression test (DST) was tested in 20 patients fulfilling the Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) for schizoaffective disorder, depressed type, and in 52 patients meeting RDC for major depressive disorder. Non-suppression was observed in 25% of the schizodepressives and in 40.4% of the depressives. No significant difference between suppressor and non-suppressor schizodepressives was found with respect to demographic, historical and clinical variables. These results do not support the usefulness of the DST for the identification of a homogeneous subtype of schizoaffective disorders.