title: Evaluation of familial influences on the course and severity of schizophrenia among US and Indian cases.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Prior studies suggest familial (possibly genetic) influences on the course of schizophrenia.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to compare familial influences on the course and severity of schizophrenia in two independent samples.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirteen selected measures were compared among affected sibling pairs (ASPs) from Pittsburgh, USA and New Delhi, India (48 US pairs, 53 Indian pairs). For each ASP proband, an unrelated patient was selected randomly from a suitable pool of cases ascertained in the same study (Sibpair proband-comparison case or S-C pairs). Correlations between these pairs were compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The correlations varied by item and by site. Significant correlations for longitudinal course and pattern of severity were noted among the ASPs from USA, but did not remain significant following corrections for multiple comparisons. Comparisons between the correlations for ASPs and the S-C pairs, used to estimate familial effects, yielded trends for the ASP correlations to be numerically larger than the S-C correlations in both samples. Separate cross-site comparisons revealed several significant differences with regard to several demographic and clinical variables. The possible impact of the cross-site variations on the observed ASP correlations is discussed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Though familial factors did not appear to have a significant impact on course/severity using this novel design, the suggestive trends need to be examined in larger samples.
authors.affiliation: Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Smita N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Deshpande
authors.forename: Triptish
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bhatia
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.forename: Jaspreet S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Brar
authors.forename: B K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Thelma
authors.forename: Rohan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ganguli
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Day
authors.forename: Irving I
authors.initials: II
authors.lastname: Gottesman
authors.forename: Vishwajit L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Nimgaonkar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D018450:Disease Progression; D005190:Family / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010414:Pennsylvania; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D035781:Siblings / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D012931:Social Environment