Characterization of Psychotic Conditions

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Abstract
IT IS GENERALLY accepted that patients grouped under the category of schizophrenia vary widely in their clinical presentation, course, and response to treatment. Much effort has been made to subtype schizophrenia into groups that are clinically more homogeneous. However, relatively little attention has been paid to psychotic conditions grouped under categories other than schizophrenia. The degree to which such categories are distinct from schizophrenia has not been adequately assessed. The DSM-IV uses a categorical-hierarchical model for subtyping schizophrenia.1 An alternative approach to subtyping schizophrenia, which has received recent attention, is the domains of psychopathology model. In this article, we report on the applicability and validity of this model for psychotic patients classified under diagnoses other than schizophrenia.