Community adjustment of older schizophrenics.

Community adjustment among older schizophrenics is a virtually unresearched area. This study addressed two questions related to this problem: Does the community adjustment of older schizophrenics differ from that of younger schizophrenics?, and Do "older" old schizophrenics differ from "younger" old schizophrenics? Patients from 79 psychiatric wards across the country completed a self-rating adjustment scale within 5 days of admission to the hospital and again 3 months after discharge. Significant others rated these patients for adjustment also. For the first analysis two groups were selected: Those patients diagnosed schizophrenic and at least 55 years of age and those below the age of 55. A second analysis divided patients into "younger" old (between 55 and 60) and "older" old (greater than 60). Results show that older schizophrenics adjust about as well as those younger on self-ratings, but less well when rated by others. Also, "older" old schizophrenics adjust better than the "younger" old in both self- and significant other ratings. These findings are discussed.