Schizophrenia is characterized by heterogeneity in nearly all aspects of the disorder and numerous classification strategies have been proposed to identify more homogeneous subgroups of patients. It has recently been suggested that schizophrenic patients can be dichotomized into meaningful subtypes based on the presence or absence of primary, enduring negative (deficit) symptoms. Validation and characterization of these subtypes is ongoing. To examine this further, we conducted a prospective study comparing one-year outcome in 17 deficit and 50 nondeficit patients, identified with the Schedule for the Deficit Syndrome (SDS). Outcome was assessed one year after the index hospitalization using the Strauss-Carpenter scale on which five dimensions of outcome (hospitalization, employment, social activity, psychopathology, and global functioning) are rated on a 0 to 4 scale, with higher scores indicating better outcome. Deficit patients were older than the nondeficit patients (mean age: 33.1 vs. 27.6 years; p=0.04); the gender ratio was similar in both groups (deficit: 65%male; nondeficit: 70%), and both groups were equally compliant with their medications during the follow-up period. Deficit patients did significantly worse on all dimensions of outcome assessed one year after initial hospitalization: rehospitalization (3.2 vs 3.7; p=0.05); employment (0.6 vs 1.6; p=0.0009); social activity (1.4 vs 2.4; p=0.007); psychopathology (1.5 vs 2.0; p=0.04); and global functioning (1.2 vs 2.1; p=0.005). Furthermore, although the numbers are small, the association between deficit status and poor outcome is only noted in females. Future studies will include larger samples so that interactions and confounding variables can be better evaluated.