Who are paranoid schizophrenics: a brief comment

TLDR: For 65 schizophrenic Ss, classification into paranoid and nonparanoid subgroups was made on the basis of both ward-record diagnosis and a current assessment, with agreement between the two on 41 cases but disagreement on 37% of the sample.

Abstract: The importance of the paranoid-nonparanoid dichotomy in research with schizophrenic Ss was discussed and the question raised as to the equivalence of the various procedures of differential diagnosis reported in the literature. For 65 schizophrenic Ss, classification into paranoid and nonparanoid subgroups was made on the basis of both ward-record diagnosis and a current assessment. There was agreement between the two on 41 cases (63%) but disagreement on 37% of the sample. Further work is necessary to evaluate the various ways of operationally defining “paranoid” schizophrenia.