The camden schizophrenia surveys III: Five-year outcome of a sample of individuals from a prevalence survey and the importance of social relationships

Abstract

Background: Most studies of outcome in schizophrenia have focused on incidence cohorts or samples identified through specialist mental health services; population-based samples provide a more complete picture of the effectiveness of community services. Aims: To examine whether outcome predictors, derived from studies of selected patients with prolonged schizophrenia, would emerge in a largely community-dwelling population sample. Methods: A follow-up sample of 114 adults with schizophrenia was identified via two censuses of key informants conducted for two prevalence surveys in North London, five years apart. Symptomatic, clinical and functional outcomes were assessed after five years. A com..