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Impaired Intellectual And Behavioral Functioning Poor Predictors Of Schizophrenia

Common clinical characteristics found in adolescents who are later hospitalized for schizophrenia have only a low power in predicting the disease. The common characteristics include impaired intellectual and behavioural functioning, the presence of non-psychiatric disorders, and drug abuse.

This was the conclusion of a study by Dr Mark Weiser of the Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel, and colleagues. The researchers followed a population-based cohort of adolescents with baseline assessments of intellectual and behavioral functioning, non-psychotic psychiatric disorders and drug abuse. The results of the medical and mental health assessments on males, aged 16 to 17 years, screened by the Israeli Draft Board were cross-linked with the National Psychiatric Hospitalization Case Registry.

The researchers found that male adolescents who were later hospitalized for schizophrenia had significantly poorer test scores on all measures in comparison with adolescents not reported to the Psychiatric Registry.

The researchers found that 26.8% of patients with schizophrenia, compared to only 7.4% in the general population of adolescents, had been assigned a non-psychotic psychiatric diagnosis in adolescence (overall OR= 4.5; 95% CI=3.6-5.6). (The range of OR were 21.5 for the schizophrenia-spectrum personality disorders to 3.6 for neurosis.)

Self-reported drug abuse was higher in adolescents later hospitalized for schizophrenia (12.4%), compared to drug abuse in adolescents not later hospitalized (5.9%) (adjusted RR=2.033).

The researchers said, "These results reflect the relatively common finding of impaired intellectual and behavioral functioning, the presence of non-psychotic psychiatric disorders, and drug abuse, in adolescents later hospitalized for schizophrenia, together with the relatively low power of these disorders in predicting schizophrenia."
Neuropsychiatric Genetics 2002;114(8):949-955. "Clinical characteristics of adolescents later hospitalized for schizophrenia"

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