Differences in quality of life and course of illness between cycloid and schizophrenic psychoses - a comparative study.

Objective: Cycloid psychoses represent a nosological entity not adequately recognised by contemporary psychiatry. They present with full recoveries after each psychotic episode and, thus, have a favourable prognosis.

Method: To verify this clinical observation course, outcome and quality of life (QoL, measured by the German version of the Lancashire Quality of Life Profile) of 33 patients with cycloid psychosis and 44 schizophrenics were compared after a mean time of 13 years since first hospitalisation.