Depression is often observed in schizophrenia, in all phases of the disorder. Age of illness onset and sex have been found to correlate with depressive symptomatology in many but not all studies.

In the present work the relation between depressive symptoms and age of onset and sex was investigated, in a sample of patients with paranoid schizophrenia.

Eighty-eight (88) patients with paranoid schizophrenia according to DSM-IV-TR criteria were examined, 21 of which became ill at ≥35 years of age (late onset), whereas 60 had age of onset < 30 years (young onset). During the active phase the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS) was applied. Comparisons were performed by using the two-tailed Wilcoxon rank-sum and Chi-squared tests.

The percentage of patients with depression (CDSS > 6) in the whole sample was 27.2%. There was a trend for higher scores in early awakening in late onset patients (P = 0.060). In men, there was a trend for heavier depression in late onset patients, and higher scores in early awakening (P = 0.082, 0.019, respectively). In young onset patients, there was a trend for heavier symptomatology in women compared with men, and heavier pathological guilt (P = 0.073, 0.007, respectively), whereas in late onset patients, there was a trend for heavier self depreciation in men (P = 0.072).

Although the frequency of depression does not seem to be influenced by age of onset or sex, more subtle differences are found in the severity of certain depressive symptoms, in relation to these factors, possibly warranting further investigation.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.