SPONTANEOUS ABNORMAL INVOLUNTARY MOVEMENTS IN FIRST-EPISODE SCHIZOPHRENIA AND SCHIZOPHRENIFORM DISORDER - BASE-LINE RATE IN A GROUP OF PATIENTS FROM AN IRISH CATCHMENT-AREA

Objective: This study investigated the rate of spontaneous abnormal in voluntary movements in a group of patients presenting with a first epi sode of schizophrenia or schizophreniform psychosis. Method: Seventy-n ine patients with a first episode of schizophrenia or schizophreniform psychosis who presented to a catchment area psychiatric service over a 3-year period, and who were neuroleptic-naive or had been medicated for less than 1 month, were examined for the presence of involuntary m ovements with use of the Abnormal involuntary Movement Scale. Results: Six patients (7.6%) had spontaneous dyskinesia as defined by the crit eria of Schooler and Kane, and nine other patients had mild orofacial involuntary movements. The patients with spontaneous dyskinesia had co mpleted significantly fewer years of education than the patients witho ut dyskinesia. Spontaneous involuntary movements were unrelated to age at presentation for treatment. Conclusions: Spontaneous abnormal invo luntary movements were evident among a proportion of patients with fir st-episode schizophrenia or schizophreniform psychosis at baseline pre sentation and were associated with reduced educational attainment. Thi s finding supports previous suggestions that abnormal involuntary move ments in schizophrenia may be related to the pathophysiology of the il lness and therefore cannot: be attributed entirely to the adverse effe cts of neuroleptic medication.