Epidemiology of Non-Addicted Schizophrenic Patients: Evidence from Pakistan

Abstract

Whether key variances exist in the frequency of schizophrenia about addiction or nonaddiction is not simple. More work has been done on comorbid schizophrenia as compared to exclusive work on non-addicted schizophrenia persons due to strict inclusion criteria. In the present study, we enrolled only non-addicted schizophrenia persons and evaluated factors like Gender difference, low education status, non-biological beliefs, and old age to clear the picture of schizophrenia in Pakistan. This cross-sectional study conducted on 111
participants included 81 patients and 30 controls. The non-addicted schizophrenia persons have participated in the present study were from the Punjab Institute of Mental Health (PIMH) Lahore and Blessings Drug Rehabilitation Centre Lahore and were fulfilling
diagnostic and statistical manual (DSM-IV) operational criteria. Data was collected via a questionnaire and analyzed on SPSS 16. The mean age of non-addicted schizophrenia persons was 35.42 years in the range of 18-65 years. Epidemiological results showed that
in the Pakistani population, there is no gender difference seen in the non-addicted schizophrenia persons. Hospital-visiting non-addicted schizophrenia persons have more biological beliefs (45.9 %) for their illness, and superstitious beliefs were at second. Among
the subtypes, the Catatonic subtype is more prominent and associated with low marriage outcomes. Paranoid patients have strong superstitious beliefs as they possess more hallucinations and delusions and report alien influence as the main reason of their illness.
Gender differences, low education status, non-biological beliefs and old age may not be considered prominent factors in the incidence of schizophrenia in the Pakistani population.