Results of the categorization of a sample of patients with a discharge diagnosis of schizophrenia

Abstract

Approximately 1% of the world population is affected withschizophrenia. It is one of the most debilitating psychiatricdisorders with a high economic, social, familial and personalcost. In Costa Rica, it is the first cause of hospitalizationamong psychiatric disorders at the National PsychiatricHospital. This study analyses the diagnosis of the first 120subjects included in the Genetic Study of Schizophrenia.Approximately 40% of the cases were discordant for thediagnosis when comparing the diagnosis of the interviewer,the finalconsensus diagnosis and thelastdischarg ediagnosis. The last hospital discharge diagnosis showed arelative sub-registry of affective symptoms and an over-diagnosis ofschizophrenicdisorders. Thediagnosis ofs c h i z o a ffective disorders was the least concordant. The differences' found could be partly explained by the use ofd i fferent diagnostic criteria and/or by a more rigorousapplication of these criteria in research. Nonetheless, theconcurrence of different symptoms in the severe mentaldisorders and the limitations imposed by strict diagnosticcriteria, might give a diagnosis to a patient which doesn' t completely represent his/her illness. The future availability ofbiological markers might help to classify these disorders inmore precise clinical entities, to better understand thephysiopathology and improve treatment.