A comparison for thyroid functions and clini-cal features in deficit and non-deficit schizo-phrenia

Abstract

Objective: The primary occurrence and persistence of negative symptoms observed in patients with schizophrenia is deficit syndrome. Although the association between thyroid hormones and schizophrenia symptoms has been reported, no studies have investigated thyroid function in patients with deficit schizophrenia (DS). This study aims to investigate the clinical features and thyroid function in DS patients by comparing them with patients with non-deficit schizophrenia (NDS) and a control group. Method: 33 subjects from DS, 35 subjects from NDS and 35 healthy control subjects were included in the study. Patients with schizophrenia were classified into DS and NDS using the deficit syndrome table. Thyroid function was assessed by the levels of TSH, free T3 (fT3), and free T4 (fT4). Sociodemographic data and clinical characteristics were evaluated using the Sociodemographic Data Form, the Positive Symptoms Evaluation Scale (SAPS), the Negative Results: There was no significant difference between DS and NDS groups in terms of age, gender, marital status and education (p>0.05). The percentage of unemployed was significantly higher in the DS group than in the NDS group (p=0.005). There were 14 (42.4%) suicide attempts in the DS group and 11 (31.4%) in the NDS group, and there was no significant difference between the groups (p>0.05). There was no significant difference between the groups when comparing the thyroid functions of the DS, NDS and healthy control groups regarding fT4, fT3 and TSH (p>0.05). There was no significant correlation between TSH, free T3, free T4 and total SANS, total SAPS and CDSS scores (p>0.05). Discussion: According to our study thyroid function is not different in DS, NDS and healthy controls and is not associated with positive, negative and depressive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia.