Long-term depot maintenance of chronic schizophrenic out-patients: the seven year follow-up of the Medical Research Council fluphenazine/placebo trial I. Course of illness, stability of diagnosis, and the role of a special maintenance clinic.

A follow-up study of all patients entering the MRC double-blind trial of fluphenazine decanoate in chronic schizophrenic out-patients achieved a trace rate of 94%. In general, these patients were severely disabled, continued under the care of the maintenance clinic, and their diagnoses remained remarkably consistent; more than one-fifth were found to be in acute schizophrenic relapse and in over a half of these cases, the relapse was not known to the treatment agency. The maintenance clinic attenders were little different from those who no longer used such a facility.