title: Psychiatric morbidity in the first-degree relatives of schizophrenic patients.
abstract: There is increasing evidence that genetic factors play a role in the etiology of schizophrenic disorders. One thousand eighty-nine first-degree relatives of schizophrenics and 1,137 controls were studied to discover their psychiatric morbidity. Psychiatric morbidity was found in 16.34% of the first-degree relatives (FDR) of schizophrenics (parents, 5.69%; siblings, 7.71%; offspring, 2.94%) as compared to 6.9% in the controls (P < 0.001). Schizophrenia was found in 8.3% of the patient group, which was significantly higher (0.2%) as compared to the controls. Schizoid-schizotypal personality disorder was found in 3.03% of FDRs of the schizophrenic group. Depressive disorder was found in 4.4% and 2.1% in the control and patient group, respectively, which was statistically significant. Morbidity risk of schizophrenia was found in 16.97%, 6.22% and 5.79% of schizophrenia, schizoid-schizotypal personality disorder and depressive disorder, respectively, in the FDR of schizophrenic group.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia.
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Varma
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Zain
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Singh
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D009017:Morbidity; D009497:Neurotic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D010259:Paranoid Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D010375:Pedigree; D012307:Risk Factors; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*