Elsevier

Schizophrenia Research

Volume 21, Issue 2, 23 August 1996, Pages 65-73
Schizophrenia Research

Biological predictors of 1-year outcome in schizophrenia in males and females

https://doi.org/10.1016/0920-9964(96)00021-7Get rights and content

Abstract

This paper describes a prospective study designed to ascertain the predictive value of biological factors associated with schizophrenia in males and females. In a sample of 59 medication-free schizophrenic inpatients (41 males; 18 females), we assessed the correlation of four factors — rapid eye movement (REM) sleep latency, delta (slow-wave) sleep, dexamethasone suppression test (DST) cortisol levels, and ventricle-brain ratio (VBR) — with several dimensions of outcome at 1-year post-discharge. In the total sample, shorter REM latency was associated with poor outcome on all dimensions measured: rehospitalization, employment, social activity, symptomatology, and global functioning. However, none of the other biological factors were associated with any measure of outcome. The predictive value of REM latency appeared to be gender-specific; in general, the relationships between reduced REM latency and poor outcome were consistently noted in females, but were not significant in males. These results suggest that a common, possibly gender-related, pathophysiological mechanism might underlie both abnormal REM latency and poor outcome. The findings underscore the importance of considering gender differences in studies of schizophrenia.

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