No correlation of serum cholesterol levels with measures of violence in patients with schizophrenia and non-psychotic disorders

Epidemiological studies, animal studies, and clinical studies yielded confl icting results concerning a supposed association between increased risk for suicide and violence, and low serum cholesterol levels. Until now, no data has been available for patients with schizophrenia, a disorder with a well -known increased risk of violence. Correlations of serum cholesterol levels at admission and measures of violence were investigated in 103 consecutive ly admitted patients (44 males, 59 females) of a general psychiatric admiss ion unit, Seventy subjects were diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia o r schizoaffective disorder (ICD-10 F 20, F25), and 33 were diagnosed as suf fering from non-psychotic disorders (mainly personality disorders). The lev el of total exhibited violence during the inpatient treatment period was me asured in each patient by the Modified Overt Aggression Scale (MOAS), the S ocial Dysfunction and Aggression Scale (SDAS), the Staff Observation Aggres sion Scale (SOAS), and the Violence Scale (VS). Correlations of all violenc e measures were high (0.75-0.90), but no correlation was found with cholest erol levels, neither for psychotic nor for nan-psychotic subjects, neither for men nor for women. The hypothesis of associations of violence and chole sterol levels is not supported by the data. (C) 1999 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SPS.