G. Garyfallos et al., NEGATIVE SYMPTOMS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA AND THE DEXAMETHASONE SUPPRESSION TEST, Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica, 88(6), 1993, pp. 425-428
The dexamethasone suppression test (DST) was administered to 30 inpati
ents who met the DSM-III-R criteria for chronic schizophrenia and shar
ed similar environments. Four of them (13%) were DST nonsuppressors. T
he mean and maximum postdexamethasone cortisol levels were correlated
with the patient's score on the scale for the Schedule for the Assessm
ent of Negative Symptoms and with the score on the anergia subscale of
the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. None of the correlations were sta
tistically significant. Furthermore, the scores on the above scales we
re not significantly correlated with clinical variables such as durati
on of illness, number of admissions or length of hospitalization, nor
were any significant correlations found between the postdexamethasone
cortisol levels and the score on the Beck Depression Inventory. In add
ition, depressed and nondepressed schizophrenics did not differ regard
ing the rate of nonsuppression and the postdexamethasone cortisol leve
ls. This study found that: 1) dexamethasone nonsuppression in schizoph
renia was not related to the presence of negative symptoms; 2) there w
as no relationship between negative symptoms and illness variables; an
d 3) the depressed schizophrenics did not display increased nonsuppres
sion compared with nondepressed schizophrenics.