This study underscores the degree to which people with schizophrenia perceive the state-enhancing effects of smoking and their lower appreciation for health risks of smoking compared with normal controls.

BackgroundChildhood abuse has been implicated as an environmental factor that increases the risk for developing schizophrenia. A recent large population-based case–control study found that abuse may be a risk factor for schizophrenia in women, but not men. Given the sex differences in onset and clinical course of schizophrenia, we hypothesized that childhood abuse may cause phenotypic differences in the disorder between men and women.MethodsWe examined the prevalence of childhood physical abuse in a cohort of men and women with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. Specifically, we examined differences in positive, negative, cognitive and depressive symptoms in men and women who reported a history of childhood physical abuse. We recruited 100 subjects for a single visit and assessed a history of childhood physical abuse using the childhood trauma questionnaire (CTQ) and clinical symptoms and cognition using the brief psychiatric rating scale (BPRS), the calgary depression scale (CDS) and the repeatable battery of the assessment of neuropsychological status (RBANS) for cognition.ResultsNinety-two subjects completed the full CTQ with abuse classified as definitely present, definitely absent or borderline. Twelve subjects who reported borderline abuse scores were excluded. Of the 80 subjects whose data was analyzed, 10 of 24 (41.6 %) women and 11 of 56 (19.6 %) men reported a history of childhood physical abuse (χ2 = 4.21, df = 1, p = 0.04). Women who reported such trauma had significantly more psychotic (sex by abuse interaction; F = 4.03, df = 1.76, p = 0.048) and depressive (F = 4.23, df = 1.76, p = 0.04) symptoms compared to women who did not have a trauma history and men, regardless of trauma history. There were no differences in negative or cognitive symptoms.ConclusionsWomen with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder may represent a distinct phenotype or subgroup with distinct etiologies and may require different, individually tailored treatments.

We examined tobacco craving and dependence in current smokers (18-65 years) with schizophrenia (N=100) and those without a psychiatric disorder (normal controls, N=100). During the 2-3 hour visit participants completed demographic and smoking related questionnaires and provided a breath CO sample. The Tobacco Craving Questionnaire-Short Form (TCQ-SF) was administered. Immediately after smoking one cigarette, no difference in TCQ-SF total score was Suzanne Lo has nothing to disclose Stephen J. Heishman has nothing to disclose Heather Gallagher Raley has nothing to disclose Katherine Wright has nothing to disclose Heidi J. Wehring has nothing to disclose Eric T. Moolchan is currently an employee of Alkermes Inc. with no conflict of interest to disclose Stephanie Feldman has nothing to disclose Fang Liu has nothing to disclose Robert P. McMahon has nothing to disclose Charles M. Richardson has nothing to disclose Deanna L. Kelly has consulted for Solvay, Janssen and Bristol Myers Squibb Contributors:Suzanne Lo coordinated normal control recruitment and study procedures at NIDA Bayview, and prepared the manuscript Stephen J. Heishman assisted in the development of the protocol, supervised normal control study procedures at NIDA Bayview, and prepared the manuscript Heather Raley coordinated schizophrenia recruitment and study procedures at the MPRC and assisted in manuscript preparation Katherine Wright coordinated schizophrenia recruitment and study procedures at the MPRC Heidi J. Wehring assisted in the study data analysis plan, presentation of the data, and manuscript preparation Eric T. Moolchan assisted in the development of the protocol, assessments and procedures, and assisted in manuscript preparation Stephanie Feldman supervised research activities and regulatory compliance at the MPRC and assisted in manuscript preparation Fang Liu coordinated study data collection, cleaning and management and ran the statistical testing and reporting of results Robert P. McMahon assisted in protocol development and supervised and developed the statistical plan for data analyses. He assisted in manuscript preparation Charles M. Richardson assisted in the protocol development and the recruitment and clinical care of schizophrenia subjects at MPRC. He assisted in manuscript preparation. Deanna L. Kelly designed and wrote the study protocol and assisted in writing the manuscript. She supervised the study procedures, regulatory compliance, and data dissemination plan.Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. noted (46.7 ± 19.5 schizophrenia, 42.8 ± 18.2 controls, p=0.15); ...

The relationship between gluten sensitivity and schizophrenia has been of increasing interest and novel mechanisms explaining this relationship continue to be described. Our study in 100 people with schizophrenia compared to 100 matched controls replicates a higher prevalence of gluten sensitivity and higher mean antigliadin IgG antibody levels schizophrenia (2.9 ± 7.7 vs. 1.3 ± 1.3, p = 0.046, controlled for age). Additionally, we examined symptoms within the schizophrenia group and found that while positive symptoms are significantly lower in people who have elevated antigliadin antibodies (AGA; 4.11 ± 1.36 vs. 6.39 ± 2.99, p = 0.020), no robust clinical profile differentiates between positive and negative antibody groups. Thus, identifying people in schizophrenia who may benefit from a gluten-free diet remains possible by blood test only.

Objective This study sought to examine the predictors of health risk perception in smokers with or without schizophrenia. Methods The health risk subscale from the Smoking Consequences Questionnaire was dichotomized and used to measure health risk perception in smokers with (n = 67) and without schizophrenia (n = 100). A backward stepwise logistic regression was conducted using variables associated at the bivariate level to determine multivariate predictors. Results Overall, 62.5% of smokers without schizophrenia and 40.3% of smokers with schizophrenia completely recognize the health risks of smoking (p ≤ .01). Multivariate predictors for smokers without schizophrenia included: sex (Exp (B) = .3; p < .05), Smoking Consequences Questionnaire state enhancement (Exp (B) = .69; p < .01), and craving relief (Exp (B) = 1.8; p < .01). Among smokers with schizophrenia, predictors were education (Exp (B) = .7; p < .05), nicotine dependence (Exp (B) = .5; p < .01), motivation to quit (Exp (B) = 1.8; p < .01), and Smoking Consequences Questionnaire craving relief (Exp (B) = 1.8; p < .01). Conclusions There was overlap and differences between predictors in smokers with and without schizophrenia. Commonly used techniques for education on the health consequences of cigarettes may work in smokers with schizophrenia, but intervention efforts specifically tailored to smokers with schizophrenia might be more efficacious.