The purpose of this study is to analyze the delusional contents and objects of schizophrenic patients during the last two decades.
The observed patients were classified into the following two groups: the first group
j consisting of 348 patients who were treated during the ten year period from January 1, 1965 to December 31, 1974; the second group of 209 patients from January 1, 1975 to December 31, 1984. Along with the delusional contents and objects of the patients, other variables such as age, sex, educational level, marital status, and clinical delusional types were also anavzed in order to find whether there were any significant changes in their distributions ever time.
The findings are as follows.
1. There is no significant difference in age and sex distributions between the two groups. The age of the majority of the patients ranges from 20 to 39 years old.
2. The majority of the patients have above high school education. The ratio of college or university graduates of the second group, however, is higher than that of the first group, indicating that the educational level of the patents is increasing over time.
3. As to their marital status, the ratio of the unmarried is very high in both groups. The ratio of diti,orced women in the second group is, however, higher than that of the first group.
4. There is no change in incidence of paranoid schizophrenia during the period. The
incidence is slightly higher among women than among men in the second group.
:5. In terms of delusional types, persecutory delusion is most common in both groups. The
incidence of the idea of jealousy and erotic delusion is higher among women patients
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