The authors evaluated 14 middle-aged and elderly patients with
delusional disorder (DD) and 253 patients with schizophrenia (SC); all
patients met DSM-III-R criteria. Because the DD patients were older and had
a later age at onset of illness, a sub-sample of 50 SC patients with
illness onset after age 40 was compared with the 14 DD patients on clinical
and neuropsychological characteristics. The DD group had a less frequent
history of past hospitalization but more severe overall psychopathologic
symptoms. Level of neuropsychological impairment seemed somewhat lower in
the DD group, but differences were nonsignificant because of small sample
size. Diagnoses remained stable during up to 8 years' follow-up (average 4
years). These preliminary findings provide partial support to the clinical
categorization of DD as a disorder distinct from SC.Abstract Teaser