Background and Aim:Neurological soft signs (NSSs) are “objectively measured, nonlocalizing abnormalities, not related to impairment of a specific brain region, reflecting improper cortical-subcortical and intercortical connections.” The possibility of NSS as an endophenotype in schizophrenia has been studied across the globe. We aimed at finding the prevalence of NSS among patients with schizophrenia as well as the associations of NSS between various sociodemographic and illness variables.Subjects and Methods:One hundred patients between the age group of 16 and 60 years were serially selected from the inpatient department of a tertiary care hospital who have been diagnosed as a case of schizophrenia according to the International Classification of Diseases version 10 during 1 year period. A semi-structured pro forma was used to collect various demographic as well as illness data, and subjects were clinically evaluated for NSS using neurological evaluation scale.Results:The prevalence of NSSs was found to be 67%, significant association was found between NSS and age, occupation, and duration of illness. A statistically significant correlation was found between NSS and age, NSS and duration of illness.Conclusion:The validity of NSS as an endophenotype lies in the fact that it should be independent of all sociodemographic and illness variables. However, our study evaluated some statistically significant findings between them. Hence, further researches are required with properly adjusted controls to find if the associations obtained between NSS and different variables here are true or whether there are some confounding factors included.

is a clinical syndrome of variable, but profoundly disruptive psychopathology that involves cognition, emotion, perception, and other aspects of behaviour." 1 According to diagnostic and statistical manual 5 th edition, the lifetime prevalence of schizophrenia is 0.3-0.7%. 2 However, over the years, in the study of complex psychiatric diseases like schizophrenia, concept of certain measurable components have come up, that are apparently invisible to the naked eyes but bridges the gap between the distal genotype and the manifest disease like ABSTRACT Background: Minor physical anomalies (MPA) are unusual morphological deviations that have no serious medical or cosmetic significance to an individual. But however minor they may be, various studies across the world have revealed their significance as a possible endophenotype of schizophrenia. This study is an attempt towards understanding the various sociodemographic and illness correlates as well as the prevalence of MPA in people with schizophrenia. Methods: 100 admitted patients who fulfilled the criteria for schizophrenia as laid down by international classification of diseases version 10 (ICD-10) and other inclusion and exclusion criteria over one year period with age between 16-60 years were included in the study. A standardized semi structured proforma for various sociodemographic and illness variables and Waldrop minor congenital anomaly scale (weighted version) were applied on the study subjects. Data obtained was analyzed using SPSS and chi-square was applied to find out statistical association. Results: Minor physical anomalies were found to be present in only 15% of subjects and they have a statistically significant association with age (p=0.041) and occupation (p=0.002). Conclusions: The study of MPA in schizophrenia is a novel attempt to unearth any subtle associations between the genetic abnormality and its interactions with the various psychophysiological as well as other environmental factors which ultimately leads to the endophenotype and in some cases to the ultimate illness state. In our study the presence of MPA in 15% of the subjects with various degree of severity probably indicates heterogeneity of the schizophrenia illness and a complex interaction with various factors from genotype to phenotype.