Long-term course of acute brief psychosis in a developing country setting

Abstract

Acute brief psychosis has a distinctive and benign long-term course when compared with other remitting psychoses. This finding supports the ICD-10 concept of a separable group of acute and transient psychotic disorders. To effectively separate this group, however, the ICD-10 criteria need modification.

Classification of Functional Psychoses and Its Implication for Prognosis: Comparison between ICD-10 and DSM-IV

“…On the other hand, the results of the present studies revealed that in both diagnostic systems schizophrenia includes more than one third of cases with a non-chronic course (ICD-10: 40%, DSM-IV: 33%). The latter point was criticised by Susser et al [42] and Mojtabai et al [43], who argued that with regard to prognosis the concept of ICD-10 schizophrenia is too wide, because it includes many cases with acute onset and complete remission. The aim of Robins and Guze [1], i.e.…”

Acute and Transient Psychosis: An Overview

“…Another study of 60 patients with a first episode of psychosis from Iran (Alaghband-Rad et al 2006b) reported that 10 cases with ATPD had their diagnosis confirmed 1 year later. Likewise, from different studies, it was concluded that the acute remitting psychoses have high stability particularly in developing countries, where the disorder also shows a favourable prognosis (Amini et al 2005;Alaghband-Rad et al 2006b;Susser et al 1998;Mojtabai et al 2000).…”

“…The course of non-affective acute psychoses may be even more benign in developing countries. In the Chandigarh site of the DOSMeD study, only one (6 %) of 17 patients followed up to 12 years had remaining symptoms of illness at the follow-up (Susser et al 1998). …”

“…Most of the existing studies, on course and outcome of acute psychoses, point towards an excellent prognosis and distinctness of the group from other functional psychoses. Various studies have reported a favourable prognosis of ATPD (Chavan and Kulhara 1988;Susser et al 1998;Varma et al 1996).…”

“…A long-term follow-up study in a developing country setting has compared the course of acute brief psychosis with that of other remitting psychoses at 5, 7 and 12 years after onset (Susser et al 1998). In the study, the longterm prognosis of acute brief psychosis was found to be excellent and remarkably homogenous, with only one out of seventeen subjects developing a chronic psychotic illness at 12-year follow-up.…”