Comparisons of insight in schizophrenia, bipolar I disorder, and depressive disorders with and without comorbid alcohol use disorder.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the level of insight among six groups of patients with psychiatric disorders, including those with schizophrenia (SZ), bipolar I disorder (BP), or depressive disorders (DD) who had or did not have comorbid alcohol use disorder (AUD).


METHODS
A total of 285 outpatients meeting the aforementioned criteria were recruited into the study. The Schedule of Assessment of Insight-Expanded version (SAI-E) was used to measure subjects' insight. Analysis of covariance (ancova) was used to compare the levels of insight among the six groups of subjects.


RESULTS
Regardless of whether patients had comorbid AUD or not, patients with DD had higher levels of insight than did patients with SZ. Comorbid AUD had independent effects on the differences in the level of insight between patients with DD and BP and between patients with BP and SZ. No statistically significant difference in insight was found between patients with the same psychiatric diagnosis with and without comorbid AUD.


CONCLUSIONS
In addition to psychotic features and clinical states, comorbid AUD should be taken into consideration when comparing the level of insight among patients with different psychiatric diagnoses.
Yen
Cheng-Fang
CF
Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Chen
Cheng-Chung
CC
Cheng
Chung-Ping
CP
Yen
Chia-Nan
CN
Lin
Huang-Chi
HC
Ko
Chih-Hung
CH
Yen
Ju-Yu
JY
Chen
Cheng-Sheng
CS
D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D017831:Diagnosis, Dual (Psychiatry); D004493:Education / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012649:Self Concept; D012727:Sex Characteristics