Dermatoglypic patterns are extensively investigated to apply in disease-related risk assessment due to an obvious association between morphological and genetic characteristics. In the current study, we aimed to determine whether the fingerprint and palmar patterns vary between case population with schizophrenia and general population. A cross sectional study was conducted in people diagnosed with schizophrenia (cases) and a control population between 2016 and 2019. In this study, 252 people were participated. Ink and paper method was used to evaluate the difference of fingerprints palm prints between patients with schizophrenia and participants in control group.93 participants were analyzed in schizophrenic group and 142 participants were investigated in the control group. The percentage of arches on the right ring finger was significantly different between the schizophrenic patient group and control group (p = 0.011). The whorl pattern type (U-W-U-W-W-W-W-U-W-U) was dominantly observed in both of the schizophrenic patient group and control group. A-B ridge count in schizophrenic patient group and control group produced a markedly significant difference (p<0.05). Interestingly, a strong significant difference was produced in comparing of A-B ridge count in catatonic schizophrenia group with residual schizophrenia group (p<0.005). In comparison, index of pattern intensity in control group was slightly higher than that in schizophrenic patient group. Taking together, these results showed that the dermatoglypic characteristics might be a valuable tool to describe the nature of schizophrenia and its clinical subtypes and further studies are needed in clinical application.

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Alcohol-related problems are a major health issue in Mongolia and remain underdiagnosed. The nationwide population-based, cross-sectional study reported here was carried out between September and November 2013. It aimed to determine the prevalence of alcohol dependence among the general population using two instruments: the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) and an International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 based clinical interview. The AUDIT test, developed by the World Health Organization, was adopted to screen a full spectrum of alcohol-related disorders. Participants identified as at high risk of alcohol dependence were referred to a clinical interview for diagnosis of alcohol dependence. The interview was designed using ICD-10 diagnostic criteria. The study consisted of 11746 participants from 79 clusters, age 18–64 years (n=11746, males 49.1%, females 50.8%, mean age 39.6 ± 12.5 years). 45.4% of the participants (n=5336) abstained from alcohol use, 39% were at low risk of alcohol dependence (n=4582), 9.2% were at moderate risk (n=1075), and 6.4% were at high risk (n=753). Among the participants, a total of 522 participants (4.4%) were diagnosed as having alcohol dependence through the clinical interview. Increased risk of alcohol dependence was associated with those who were men, divorced or widowed, living in rural regions, unemployed, and less educated. The study results suggest that the prevalence of alcohol dependence is 4.4% among the general population of Mongolia. Gender, marital status, geographical location, and education significantly influence alcohol dependence.

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