Psychiatric comorbidities and schizophrenia

Schizophr Bull. 2009 Mar;35(2):383-402. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbn135. Epub 2008 Nov 14.

Abstract

Psychiatric comorbidities are common among patients with schizophrenia. Substance abuse comorbidity predominates. Anxiety and depressive symptoms are also very common throughout the course of illness, with an estimated prevalence of 15% for panic disorder, 29% for posttraumatic stress disorder, and 23% for obsessive-compulsive disorder. It is estimated that comorbid depression occurs in 50% of patients, and perhaps (conservatively) 47% of patients also have a lifetime diagnosis of comorbid substance abuse. This article chronicles these associations, examining whether these comorbidities are "more than chance" and might represent (distinct) phenotypes of schizophrenia. Among the anxiety disorders, the evidence at present is most abundant for an association with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Additional studies in newly diagnosed antipsychotic-naive patients and their first-degree relatives and searches for genetic and environmental risk factors are needed to replicate preliminary findings and further investigate these associations.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Cognition Disorders / epidemiology*
  • Cognition Disorders / physiopathology
  • Comorbidity
  • Depressive Disorder / epidemiology
  • Humans
  • Mental Disorders / epidemiology*
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / epidemiology
  • Panic Disorder / epidemiology
  • Prevalence
  • Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
  • Risk Factors
  • Schizophrenia / epidemiology*
  • Schizophrenia / physiopathology
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / epidemiology
  • Terminology as Topic