title: Factor analysis of the catatonia rating scale and catatonic symptom distribution across four diagnostic groups.
abstract: Catatonia is a frequent psychomotor syndrome, which has received increasing recognition over the last decade. The assessment of the catatonic syndrome requires systematic rating scales that cover the complex spectrum of catatonic motor signs and behaviors. The Catatonia Rating Scale (CRS) is such an instrument, which has been validated and which has undergone extensive reliability testing. In the present study, to further validate the CRS, the items composing this scale were submitted to principal components factor extraction followed by a varimax rotation. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to assess group differences on the extracted factors in patients with schizophrenia, pure mania, mixed mania, and major depression (N=165). Four factors were extracted, which accounted for 71.5% of the variance. The factors corresponded to the clinical syndromes of (1) catatonic excitement, (2) abnormal involuntary movements/mannerisms, (3) disturbance of volition/catalepsy, and (4) catatonic inhibition. The ANOVA revealed that each of the groups showed a distinctive catatonic symptom pattern and that the overlap between diagnostic groups was minimal. We conclude that this four-factor symptom structure of catatonia challenges the current conceptualization, which proposes only two symptom subtypes.
authors: Klinik für Psychiatry, Verhaltensmedizin und Psychosomatik am Klinikum Chemnitz, University of Dresden, Germany.
authors: Stephanie
authors: S
authors: Krüger
authors: R Michael
authors: RM
authors: Bagby
authors: Jürgen
authors: J
authors: Höffler
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Bräunig
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002389:Catatonia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D006801:Humans; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires