Family study of acute and transient psychotic disorders: comparison with schizophrenia.
BACKGROUND
Acute non-organic psychoses, as often described in European and Indian literature, and categorized as 'Acute and transient psychotic disorders' in ICD-10, lack a clear nosological distinction from schizophrenia.


METHODS
A family study of psychiatric disorders in first-degree relatives (FDRs) of 40 ICD-10-diagnosed probands of acute and transient psychotic disorders (ATP) was carried out using a semi-structured interview schedule. The results were compared with those of 40 schizophrenic probands.


RESULTS
FDRs of ATP probands had a higher prevalence of ATP than those of schizophrenic probands. FDRs of schizophrenic probands had significantly higher prevalence of schizophrenia than those of ATP probands. ATP subtypes with schizophrenic symptomatology (ICD-10 codes F 23.1 and F 23.2) had more family history of schizophrenia than the rest of the ATP subtypes.


CONCLUSIONS
ATP as a group has a differential pattern of risk of illness compared to schizophrenia. Further, the subtypes subsumed under ICD-10 ATP may be genetically heterogeneous, those with schizophrenia-like symptomatology being possibly more akin to schizophrenia itself or forming an interface between ATP and schizophrenia.
Das
S K
SK
Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India. medinst@pgi.chd.nic.in
Malhotra
S
S
Basu
D
D
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009679:Nuclear Family / Q000523:psychology*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000453:epidemiology*