Clinical and Etiopathogenic Specificities of the French Concept of Psychose Hallucinatoire Chronique Compared to Schizophrenia

The French concept of psychose hallucinatoire chronique (PHC) is characterized by late-onset psychosis, occurring predominantly in females. Symptoms are rich and frequent hallucinations but almost no dissociative features or negative symptoms. This diagnosis is classified among schizophrenia disorde...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Schizophrenia bulletin 2004, Vol.30 (1), p.173-184
Main Authors: Dubertret, Caroline, Adès, Jean, Gorwood, Philip
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Age of Onset
Aged
Biological and medical sciences
Case-Control Studies
Child
Chronic Disease
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Etiology
Family Health
Female
France
Hallucinations
Hallucinations - psychology
Human
Humans
Inpatients
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Nosology. Terminology. Diagnostic criteria
Onset (Disorders)
Positive and Negative Symptoms
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Psychoses
Psychosis
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia - etiology
Schizophrenia - physiopathology
Sex Factors
Techniques and methods
Terminology as Topic
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The French concept of psychose hallucinatoire chronique (PHC) is characterized by late-onset psychosis, occurring predominantly in females. Symptoms are rich and frequent hallucinations but almost no dissociative features or negative symptoms. This diagnosis is classified among schizophrenia disorders (paranoid type) according to DSM-IV. PHC may also describe a group of patients with original clinical presentation and etiopathogenic factors. We compared 38 female PHC patients with two groups of female schizophrenia patients, matched for age at interview for the first group (n = 35), and duration of the disorder for the second group (n = 36). PHC subjects were relatively older patients with homogeneous clinical features characterized by predominantly positive symptoms without deterioration and fewer relatives with schizophrenia than schizophrenia patients. This first controlled study underscores clinical, phenomenological, and possibly etiopathogenic factors that characterized the PHC patients, even when the impact of late onset and late age at interview were taken into account. This study provides evidence that PHC may be a possible diagnosis in clinical practice, although it is difficult to reach a conclusion on its relationship with schizophrenia.
ISSN:0586-7614
1745-1701
DOI:10.1093/oxfordjournals.schbul.a007061