The Prediction of Outcome in Schizophrenia

This report describes the characteristics of outcome and its predictors in a cohort of patients evaluated in the Washington Center of the International Pilot Study of Schizophrenia. Part I, focusing on the characteristics of outcome, suggested that outcome consists of several semi-independent processes. This second part focuses on the nature of predictor-outcome relationships in this cohort of patients. Results demonstrate that employment function and social relations in the past were each the best predictor of its respective outcome function. Established chronicity of illness predicted outcome in all areas. The findings support the view that outcome is not a single process but is comprised of several semi-independent processes best conceptualized as open-linked systems. Each system must be considered in understanding, evaluating, and treating the different areas of outcome disability in schizophrenia.