Abstract
A comparison was made of schizophrenic outpatients visiting Karasuyama Hospital, a hospital affiliated with Showa University (referred to here as the mental hospital group), or the Department of Psychiatry, Showa University Hospital (the general hospital group) . Only those patients who could be observed over a period of more than five years, were evaluated. None had ever had any treatment prior to their first visit to either hospital. The following results were obtained: No difference was noted between the two groups in adaptability to society. Taken as a whole, two-thirds of the patients were well-adapted to society. Based on scored to evaluate mental signs and symptoms, however, the severity of mental signs remained higher in the general hospital group. Compared to the general hospital group, more patients were under long-term observation in the mental hospital group. The latter group had earlier onset of schizophrenia, a higher number of hospitalizations, longer total elapsed time of hospitalization, longer stay per hospitalization, and a longer period between onset of the illness and their first visit to a hospital. The course and prognosis of schizophrenia in outpatients who had not had any treatment until their visit to either hospital, and who could be ovserved over a long period of time were favorable in most patients. However, the results suggest that these patients could be divided into two groups: those who could be mainly observed in a mental hospital; and a mild type that might commonly appear in a general hospital, but would also be present in a mental hospital in more than an insignificant number. The fact that not a few patients displayed this mild type shows in one respect that schizophrenia may be presently becoming milder.
