Abstract. Defined half a century ago as the “worst disease affecting mankind”, schizophrenia continues to bear a significant global socioeconomic burden, as well as serious effects on the functioning and quality of life of the affected individual and their close ones. The complexity of the disease is reflected in the multitude of factors influencing concepts such as response to therapy, remission, and recovery. Male gender, early onset of the disease, long duration of untreated psychosis (DUP), poor premorbid functioning, substance abuse, non-adherence to therapy, and more negative psychopathology are commonly identified as negative predictors for various stages of the illness and concepts for disease outcome. Often, information is contradictory as the influence of individual factors on the disease outcome is minimal.

Key words: schizophrenia, predictors, therapeutic response, remission, recovery

Full text here.