Table 2.
Clinical and Treatment Details of Patients Diagnosed With Persistent Delusional Disorder (N = 455)a
| Variable | Patients |
| Clinical features | |
| Age at onset of illness, mean ± SD, y | 32.36 ± 10.47 |
| Duration of illness at first contact, mean ± SD, y | 44.15 ± 66.66 |
| Main delusion | |
| Infidelity | 203 (44.6) |
| Persecution | 149 (32.7) |
| Hypochondriacal | 29 (6.4) |
| Body dysmorphophobic | 24 (5.3) |
| Erotomania | 18 (4.0) |
| Somatic | 15 (3.3) |
| Referential | 5 (1.1) |
| Grandiose | 5 (1.1) |
| Mixed (more than 1 type) | 7 (1.5) |
| Secondary delusion | 157/455 (34.5) |
| Persecution | 72 (15.8) |
| Reference | 57 (12.7) |
| Infidelity | 10 (2.1) |
| Mixed (more than 1 type) | 18 (3.9) |
| Other clinical features | |
| Hallucinations | 78/455 (17.1) |
| Auditory | 47 (10.3) |
| Tactile | 16 (3.5) |
| Olfactory | 9 (2.0) |
| Visual | 6 (1.3) |
| Comorbidity | |
| Substance dependence | 61/455 (13.4) |
| Alcohol | 28 (6.2) |
| Nicotine | 13 (2.9) |
| Alcohol and nicotine | 15 (3.3) |
| Cannabis | 4 (1.0) |
| Depressive symptoms | 187 (41.1) |
| Syndromal depression | 18 (3.9) |
| Anxiety symptoms | 41 (9.0) |
| Paranoid personality traits | 47 (10.3) |
| Family history of psychiatric illness | 141/455 (31.0) |
| Schizophrenia | 39 (8.6) |
| Substance dependence | 37 (8.1) |
| Persistent delusional disorder | 21 (4.6) |
| Bipolar affective disorder | 12 (2.6) |
| Recurrent depressive disorder | 15 (3.3) |
| Other psychotic disorders | 14 (3.1) |
| Anxiety disorders | 4 (0.8) |
| Treatment at first contact | |
| Drug naive | 281 (61.9) |
| Atypical antipsychotics only | 116 (25.6) |
| Atypical antipsychotics plus mood stabilizer/antidepressant | 33 (7.3) |
| Typical antipsychotics only | 2 (0.4) |
| Mood stabilizer/antidepressant only | 22 (4.8) |
| Treatment received | |
| Pharmacotherapy alone | 436 (95.8) |
| Pharmacotherapy plus electroconvulsive therapy | 12 (2.6) |
| Pharmacotherapy plus psychotherapy | 6 (1.3) |
| Psychotherapy alone | 1 (0.2) |
| Most common antipsychotics | |
| Risperidone | 280 (61.5) |
| Olanzapine | 86 (19.0) |
| Antidepressants | 50/455 (11.0) |
| Escitalopram | 9 (2.0) |
| Fluoxetine | 36 (7.9) |
| Sertraline | 5 (1.1) |
| Response to treatment | 308/455 (67.7) |
| Good | 163 (52.9) |
| Partial | 90 (29.2) |
| Poor | 55 (17.8) |
| Good compliance | 285/308 (92.5) |
| Diagnostic stability | |
| Stable | 274/308 (88.9) |
| Revised | 34 (11.1) |
| Schizophrenia | 15 (4.8) |
| Bipolar disorder | 7 (2.3) |
| Other psychotic illness | 7 (2.3) |
| Obsessive-compulsive disorder | 3 (1.0) |
| Recurrent depressive disorder | 2 (0.7) |
a
Data are presented as n (%) unless otherwise specified.