[Changes of hallucination and delusion: the results of the 21-33 year follow-up of "Budapest 2000"].

UNLABELLED

In view of the fact that there are only a few longitudinal follow-up examinations in patients with major mental illness, data on the changes of hallucination and delusion over the lifetime of the patient are extremely limited.

AIM

The purpose of this study was to investigate the long-term course of delusions and hallucinations in patients with psychotic disorders.

METHOD

221 patients were evaluated in this study. The subjects were classified according to Leonhardian nosological system into affective, cycloid and schizophrenic groups and were assessed at three different times (index, and 5- and 21-33 year follow-up). All subjects received pharmacotherapy during the study. The psychopathological assessment of patients was performed by two trained raters. The Rockland Pollin Rating Scale was obtained at each time-point in the study.

RESULTS

The initially low severity of hallucinations and delusions showed a tendency for full recovery across the course of the illness in the affective group. The high initial severity of both symptoms displayed a full resolution in the cycloid group. By contrast, at each follow-up time-point in all groups with schizophrenia, persistence of both symptoms was observable with some fluctuation, i.e., with the worsening of hallucination between the second and third follow-up time-points. Certain schizophrenia subgroups were distinguishable based on the correlation of the two symptoms. The severity of these symptoms did not show a significant association with the severity of psychosis observed at a particular time.

DISCUSSION

The main productive symptoms with some fluctuations persist through course of the illness.