Characteristics and Service Use of Older Adults with Schizoaffective Disorder Versus Older Adults with Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine if schizoaffective disorder in older adults is differentiated from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder with respect to community functioning, cognitive functioning, psychiatric symptoms, and service use.

Design: Secondary analysis of baseline data collected from the Helping Older People Experience Success psychosocial skills training and health management study.

Setting: Three community mental health centers in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

Participants: Adults over the age of 50 (N = 139, mean age: 59.7 years, SD: 7.4 years) with persistent functional impairment and a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder (N = 52), schizophrenia (N = 51), or bipolar disorder (N = 36).

Measurements: Health status (36-Item Short Form Health Survey [SF-36]), performance-based community living skills (UCSD Performance-Based Skills Assessment), neuropsychological functioning (Delis-Kaplan Executive Functioning subtests), psychiatric symptoms (Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms), medical severity (Charlson comorbidity index), and acute service use.

Results: Older adults with schizoaffective disorder had depressive symptoms of similar severity to bipolar disorder, and thought disorder symptoms of similar severity to schizophrenia. Schizoaffective disorder compared with schizophrenia was associated with better community functioning, but poorer subjective physical and mental health functioning as measured by the SF-36. Older adults with schizoaffective disorder had greater acute hospitalization compared with adults with schizophrenia, though their use of acute care services was comparable to individuals with bipolar disorder.

Conclusions: Findings from this study suggest that schizoaffective disorder in older adults occupies a distinct profile from either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder with respect to community functional status, symptom profile, and acute services utilization.