Age and types of onset of child schizophrenia

Abstract

After researching ali published material about the onset of child squizophrenia from 1942 to 1991, and despite this illness being racogniscd as one of the most serious patologies, the precocious diagnostic problem still exists. Consequently, there's no mutual agreement between the different authors in respect to the age of the beginning of this pathology. Befare 1985 more than 80% of research authors consfdered that child squizophrenia was less frequent or nonexistent befare the age of 10 whereas after 1985 approximately 90% of authors considered that it appears to startfrom the age of eight. As a remarkable fact is that between 1980 and 1985 some authors observed tbat a small percentage of children, identified as infanttle autist, later on develop squizophrenia. This last consideration leads to the recent research that shows that children with previous history of autism are identified younger as being squizophrenics (between 6 and 9 years). Final/y, the latest studies conclude that having 1st, degree relatives with this disease does not influence on tbe age of onset of squizopbrenia. There have to be considered four different ways of beginning: tbe progressive or insidious type, the acute onset type, the ciclical type and tbe monosymptomatical type, although recently doubt has been cast on the second type and the more frequent are the progressive or insidious type.