Relationship between Tardive Dyskinesia and psychopathology in a group of schizophrenic patients attending a rehabilitation centre

Abstract

Twenty-five of 76 patients suffering from chronic schizophrenia, treated in a rehabilitation centre, were found to have tardive dyskinesia (TD) according to the Tardive Dyskinesia Research Diagnostic Criteria (Schooler and Kane, 1982).Patients suffering from T D achieved significantly higher total scores on two subscales (affective flattening and blunting and avolition-apathy, respectively) of the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms. On the other hand, positive symptoms assessed by the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale did not distinguish the two groups. Our findings support the idea that patients suffering predominantly from negative symptoms of schizophrenia may have a higher vulnerability for the development of T D than schizophrenic patients showing mainly positive symptoms.