The Study of Sociodemographic Data of Individuals with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Schizophrenia spectrum disorder is a progressive mental disorder characterized by interpreting reality abnormally and deformation in mental functions like emotion, thought, cognition and attitude of individuals. The effects of neurodevelopmental and environmental factors on schizophrenia ethiology have been identified in former studies. In this study, by looking at sociodemographic data of individuals with schizophrenia, we aimed to study the role of environmental effects on schizophrenia ethiology. In the study, a total of 39 individuals with schizophrenia was included: 16 female and 23 male patients diagnosed by DSM-IV diagnosis axis. The effect of age and gender was also taken into consideration. Sociodemographic data form prepared by an expert in psychotic disorders clinic in Selcuk University was fulfilled retrospectively. From the findings, we concluded that 35.2% of the participants was bachelors, 81.1% was unemployed, 60% was single, 45.2% was in low-income group, 31.4% was living with parents, 28.6% was living in care centers, 63.2% had no schizophrenic family history, 84.2% had no psychiatric diagnosis along with schizophrenia, 60.5% had no medical diseases, 57.9% wasn’t addicted to smoking, 86.8% wasn’t addicted to drugs and 89.5% didn’t have alcohol addiction. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) was applied to 28.2% of the sufferers and 76.9% had regular sleeping pattern. We also found that 82.1% of the participants were suicidal and 15.9% had tried to commit suicide before. We found that the total period and amount of smoking in male patients were statistically more significant than in female patients (p<0.05). The fact that the patients below 40 were single and living with their parents compared to the patients over 40 was also statistically significant (p<0.05). As the ethiology of schizophrenia is multifactorial, we are of the opinion that for a better understanding, the study of sociodemographic data of the patients is of primary importance.