There are, moreover, other gender-specific characteristics of schizophrenia in China that differ

from those in the West. For example, the long-held belief that males have an earlier age of onset9 is not confirmed in some Chinese studies10 (and is also questioned in some studies in India11). Long-term follow-up studies of first-episode incident cases of psychoses in urban and rural areas are needed to fully understand the unique social epidemiology of schizophrenia in China. The Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical advantage of conducting such studies in China (versus multi-country studies) is that they could reduce the variance due to “culture” and, thus, address important questions about the relative roles of biology and socioeconomic factors in the incidence and course of psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia. Chinese diagnostic criteria The formal diagnostic criteria currently employed by Chinese psychiatrists are those found in the Chinese Classification of Mental Disorders, third edition, revised (CCMD-3), which Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical has just recently been published (in Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical April 2001) by the Chinese Society of Psychiatry.12 This diagnostic classification system, which has undergone several revisions over the last few years, has Selleckchem AZD0530 similarities to both the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and ICD systems, but maintains its unique elements based on the experience of Chinese clinicians.13 The criteria for schizophrenia in the CCMD-3 have several

differences when compared Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical with those in ICD-10 and DSM-IV. Symptomatic criteria. In the Chinese system at least two out of the following nine groups of symptoms are required during the acute phase of the illness: repeated auditory hallucinations; thought

disorder (loosening of associations or poverty of thought); thought insertion, withdrawal, or blocking; experiences of being controlled or of thought broadcasting; primary delusions; illogical thinking, symbolic thought, or Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical neologisms; inappropriate affect or marked apathy; catatonic or bizarre behavior; and avolition.The inclusion of inappropriate affect and the subdivision of delusions into three separate categories are two important differences between the Chinese and Western diagnostic symptoms. Severity criteria. Unlike other systems, the CCMD-3 requires loss of insight during the active phase of the illness and either significant social dysfunction or an Methisazone inability to communicate effectively. Duration criteria. Previous versions of the Chinese diagnostic criteria required 3 months of continuous active symptoms (longer than the 1 -month duration criteria of ICD-10 and shorter than the 6-month duration criteria of DSM-IV), but the new version of the Chinese criteria now only requires 1 month of continuous active symptoms, similar to the ICD-10 criteria. The Chinese system does not consider prodromal or residual symptoms as part of the 1 -month duration criteria. Diagnostic subtypes.