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Comparison of patients with early-, typical-, and late-onset affective psychosis
K W Sax1, S M Strakowski, P E Keck
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, OH, USA. saxkw@email.uc.edu
Objective:
The authors compared the clinical characteristics and family history of patients with early-onset (before age 18), typical-onset (at 20-25 years), and late-onset (after age 35) affective psychosis at the time of first hospitalization.
Method:
Diagnostic, symptom, and family history information was obtained from 88 consecutively hospitalized patients.
Results:
Major depression was more common in the late-onset group, and a family history of affective and substance abuse disorders was more common among the early-onset patients. Affective symptoms differed significantly among groups; specifically, early-onset patients had more energy, minimal sleep disruption, and greater suicidality, while typical-onset patients had more severe abnormal thought content.
Conclusions:
Among patients with affective psychosis, there may be heterogeneity of symptoms and family history associated with age at first hospitalization.