Admixture analysis of age at onset in older patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders

The nature of schizophrenia spectrum disorders with an onset in middle or late adulthood remains controversial. The aim of our study was to determine in patients aged 60 and older if clinically relevant subtypes based on age at onset can be distinguished, using admixture analysis, a data-driven technique. We conducted a cross-sectional study in 94 patients aged 60 and older with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Admixture analysis was used to determine if the distribution of age at onset in this cohort was consistent with one or more populations of origin and to determine cut-offs for age at onset groups, if more than one population could be identified. Results showed that admixture analysis based on age at onset demonstrated only one normally distributed population. Our results suggest that in older schizophrenia patients, early- and late-onset ages form a continuum.