Volume : V, Issue : V, May - 2015

Minor Physical Anomalies in Schizophrenia : a clinical study

Rakesh Kumar, Bianca Honnekeri, Sagar Karia, Avinash Desousa

Abstract :

 Background: Minor physical anomalies (MPA) have been noted in patients with schizophrenia and their  first degree relatives (FDR). The prevalence of MPA has ranged from 8–16% across studies depending on  which criteria was used. MPA has infact been considered by researchers as fixed trait biomarker for schizophrenia. The  aim of the present study was to compare the prevalence of MPA in patients with schizophrenia, their FDR and general  population. Methodology: 50 cases of schizophrenia diagnosed as per the ICD–10 diagnostic criteria along with 50 of their first  degree relatives were subjects of the study. This was matched to age appropriate controls from the general population  that made up another 50 subjects. All the patients chosen with schizophrenia were drug naïve and off medical treatment for at least 4 weeks prior to the study. The Modified Waldrob scale was used to measure MPA and the Positive  and Negative Symptom Scale for Schizophrenia (PANSS) was used to measure the severity of schizophrenia symptoms.  The data was analyzed using appropriate statistical measures and computerized software. Results: All three groups were well matched socio demographically. MPAs were significantly greater in the schizophrenia group than in FDRs and age matched controls (p<0.01). The MPA scores for head anomalies correlated with positive (p = 0.002), negative (p = 0.001) and general psychopathology scores on PANSS (p = 0.009). The scores for MPAs  elsewhere however only correlated with PANSS positive (p=0.01) and negative scores (p=0.03).  Conclusions: The reasons for the results could be the correlation between fixed trait markers and fluctuating markers  which are symptom domains. The findings of the study cannot be generalized by the presence of MPAs supports the  neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia and must be looked at as a fixed trait biomarker in schizophrenia in  larger community and hospital based studies.

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Article: Download PDF   DOI : 10.36106/ijar  

Cite This Article:

Rakesh Kumar, Bianca Honnekeri, Sagar Karia, Avinash Desousa Minor Physical Anomalies in Schizophrenia : a clinical study Indian Journal of Applied Research, Vol.5, Issue : 5 May 2015

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