The Prevalence of Depressive Symptoms in Schizophrenia: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Schizophrenia is a disorder with a highly heterogeneous clinical picture. Depressive symptoms occur in schizophrenia, and they increase the disease burden and distress. There are very few studies on this topic in India. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of depressive symptoms in schizophrenia and its correlation with socio-demographic factors as well as symptom domains such as positive, negative and general psychopathology. This cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital with consecutive sampling. Persons diagnosed with schizophrenia were administered a semi-structured proforma to collect socio-demographic data. Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS) was administered to assess symptom domains, and The Calgary Depression Scale for schizophrenia (CDSS) was used to measure depressive symptoms. The cut-off score to determine clinically significant depression was fixed at a score >7.This study found that 28.6 % of persons with schizophrenia had clinically significant depression. It was found that there were no significant differences in age, education, marital status, residence, occupation, or socio-economic class between the depressed and non-depressed groups. 40% of the depressed patients had a positive history of previous suicide attempts, while in the non-depressed group, only 14% had a positive history of prior suicide attempts. In this study, the psychopathology of schizophrenia measured by the PANSS positive scale, negative scale, general psychopathology scale, and the PANSS total score did not have any statistically significant correlation with the depressive symptoms assessed by the Calgary depression scale for schizophrenia. The multidimensional model of schizophrenia gives a valid explanation for the absence of any correlation between depressive symptoms and other psychopathological entities. The clinically significant depression in schizophrenia is probably an independent component rather than a consequence of the psychotic symptomatology. The depressive symptoms should be addressed while treating schizophrenia, and appropriate therapeutic interventions are required to decrease the disease burden and improve the quality of life.