title: Comparison of clinical characteristics, co-morbidity and pharmacotherapy in adolescent schizophrenia patients with and without obsessive-compulsive disorder.
abstract: A substantial proportion of adolescent schizophrenia patients exhibit obsessive-compulsive symptoms/disorder (OCS/OCD). In the present study we sought to provide a clinical characterization of adolescent schizo-obsessive patients. A consecutive sample of 22 adolescent patients (age 13-18 years) who met DSM-IV criteria for both schizophrenia and OCD was compared with 22 non-OCD schizophrenia patients matched for age, gender and number of hospitalizations. The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I psychiatric disorders (SCID-I), the Scale for the Assessment of Positive (SAPS) and Negative (SANS) Symptoms, the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) and the Clinical Global Impression (CGI) were used. We found that schizo-obsessive patients had earlier age at onset of schizophrenia symptoms, had more OCD spectrum disorders, primarily tic disorders, but did not differ in severity of schizophrenia symptoms from non-OCD schizophrenia patients. In a majority of the schizo-obsessive patients, OCS preceded or co-occurred with the onset of schizophrenia and did not correlate with schizophrenic symptoms. As expected, more schizo-obsessive patients than their non-OCD counterparts were treated with adjunctive anti-obsessive agents. These findings indicate that clinical characteristics of adolescent schizo-obsessive patients are generally similar to those previously revealed in their adult counterparts. The neurobiology underlying the co-occurrence of the OC and schizophrenia symptoms merits further evaluation.
authors.affiliation: Tirat Carmel Mental Health Center, Tirat Carmel, Israel. poyurovs@tx.technion.ac.il
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Poyurovsky
authors.forename: Sarit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Faragian
authors.forename: Adeeb
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shabeta
authors.forename: Anatoly
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kosov
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D017668:Age of Onset; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015897:Comorbidity; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D020323:Tics / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents