ABNORMAL SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCES IN SCHIZOPHRENIA - ITS RELATIONSHIPS WITH NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL DISTURBANCES AND FRONTAL SIGNS

The prevalence of abnormal subjective experiences is high in schizophr enic patients. This study starts from the hypothesis that these subjec tive disorders are associated with cognitive disturbances. In order to test this hypothesis a study was carried out on 40 patients who were diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia according to RDC and DSM-III -R criteria. They were consecutively admitted due to a recrudescence o f their symptomatology. Version 3 of the Frankfurt Complaint Questionn aire, adapted for Spanish by the authors, was used as an instrument fo r the assessment of subjective experiences. Eight patients refused to answer the questionnaire. A neuropsychological battery, including the Mini-Mental State, some subtests from the WAIS, Bender's visual-motor test, Rey's Complex Figure, and the Trail Making Test, was used. Front al neurological signs were evaluated. The abnormal subjective experien ces of schizophrenics presented a close association with neuropsycholo gical disturbances and, to a lesser degree, of intensity with frontal neurological signs. Regression analyses by means of stepwise method an d partial correlation analyses were undertaken. Many significant relat ionships between subjective experiences and cognitive disturbances per sisted after controlling the influence of age, gender, education, lack of insight, neuroleptic doses, and biperidene doses.