Characterization of deficit schizophrenia and reliability of the bidimensional model of its negative symptomatology

Abstract

Background: Cumulative evidence has demonstrated important differences between deficit (DS) and non-deficit (NDS) schizophrenia, suggesting that DS may be a separate disease. However, most data come from the same research groups and more replication is needed to validate this hypothesis.

Aims: Our study aimed to examine the distribution of DS, to compare their characteristics with NDS patients and to analyze the reliability of the two-factor structure of its negative symptomatology in a Spanish clinical sample.

Methods: Sixty clinically stabilized patients with schizophrenia were evaluated. The Schedule for the Deficit Syndrome was used for DS/NDS categorization. Patient characteristics included age, gender, education, age at onset of psychosis, duration of illness, family history of psychosis, type of antipsychotic regimen, schizophrenia subtype and severity of the disease.

Results: DS prevalence was 28.3%. Bivariate analysis revealed statistical differences between DS and NDS in terms of years of education and schizophrenia subtype. Factor analysis replicated the two-factor solution consisting of the ‘Expressive deficit’ and ‘Avolition–apathy’ domains reported in previous studies.

Conclusions: Our results were consistent with the published data and indicated that the DS profile in the Spanish population is similar to that in other populations, which would corroborate the homogeneity of DS within the schizophrenia spectrum and contribute to the hypothesis that DS constitutes a separate disease.

Keywords:

• Schizophrenia
• deficit syndrome
• negative symptoms
• avolition
• expressive deficit

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest in relation to the subject of this study.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Álvaro López-Díaz

Álvaro López-Díaz is a clinical psychiatrist at Hospital Universitario Virgen Macarena (Seville, Spain) and an associated researcher at Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (Seville, Spain). His research interests are in first-episode psychosis, schizophrenia and major affective disorders.

Clara Menéndez-Sampil

Clara Menéndez-Sampil, Ana Pérez-Romero, Fernanda Jazmín Palermo-Zeballos and María José Valdés-Florido are resident physicians specializing in psychiatry at Hospital Universitario Virgen Macarena (Seville, Spain).

Ana Pérez-Romero

Clara Menéndez-Sampil, Ana Pérez-Romero, Fernanda Jazmín Palermo-Zeballos and María José Valdés-Florido are resident physicians specializing in psychiatry at Hospital Universitario Virgen Macarena (Seville, Spain).

Fernanda Jazmín Palermo-Zeballos

Clara Menéndez-Sampil, Ana Pérez-Romero, Fernanda Jazmín Palermo-Zeballos and María José Valdés-Florido are resident physicians specializing in psychiatry at Hospital Universitario Virgen Macarena (Seville, Spain).

María José Valdés-Florido

Clara Menéndez-Sampil, Ana Pérez-Romero, Fernanda Jazmín Palermo-Zeballos and María José Valdés-Florido are resident physicians specializing in psychiatry at Hospital Universitario Virgen Macarena (Seville, Spain).