Gender Differences in the Formal Thought Disorder in Patients with Schizophrenia

Bomi Kim; Jung Min Yu; Seongsu Kim; Sun Choi; Ho Seon Lee; Kang-Uk Lee; Joonho Choi; Seon-Cheol Park

doi:10.4306/jknpa.2015.54.3.291

Journal List > J Korean Neuropsychiatr Assoc > v.54(3) > 1017743

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Kim, Yu, Kim, Choi, Lee, Lee, Choi, and Park: Gender Differences in the Formal Thought Disorder in Patients with Schizophrenia

Original Article

Journal of Korean Neuropsychiatric Association 2015; 54(3): 291-298.

Published online: 21 August 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4306/jknpa.2015.54.3.291

Gender Differences in the Formal Thought Disorder in Patients with Schizophrenia

Bomi Kim, MD¹, Jung Min Yu, MD², Seongsu Kim, MD¹, Sun Choi, MA³, Ho Seon Lee, MD⁴, Kang-Uk Lee, MD, PhD⁵, Joonho Choi, MD, PhD⁶, Seon-Cheol Park, MD, PhD^1,⁷

¹Department of Psychiatry, Yong-In Mental Hospital, Yongin, Korea.

²Department of Psychiatry, Chuncheon National Hospital, Chuncheon, Korea.

³Department of Clinical Psychology, Yong-In Mental Hospital, Yongin, Korea.

⁴Department of Psychiatry, St. Andrew's Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Icheon, Korea.

⁵Department of Psychiatry, Kangwon National University School of Medicine, Chuncheon, Korea.

⁶Department of Psychiatry, Hanyang University Guri Hospital, Guri, Korea.

⁷Institute of Mental Health, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea.

Address for correspondence: Seon-Cheol Park, MD, PhD. Department of Psychiatry, Yong-In Mental Hospital, 940 Jungbu-daero, Giheung-gu, Yongin 17089, Korea. Tel +82-31-288-0203, Fax +82-31-288-0184, cogito-ergo-sum@hanmail.net

Received 22 May 2015 Revised 4 June 2015 Accepted 11 June 2015

Abstract

Objectives

Formal thought disorder has been regarded as an essential symptom in the diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia. The aim of our study was to present gender differences in the formal thought disorder among patients with schizophrenia.

Methods

We tested for potential gender differences in the formal thought disorder among 167 inpatients with schizophrenia (86 men and 81 women). The Scale for the Assessment of Thought, Language and Communication (TLC scale), Clinical Language Disorder Rating Scale (CLANG), Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, Young Mania Rating Scale, and Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia were used for evaluation of thought disorder, language disorder, overall symptoms, manic symptoms, and depressive symptoms, respectively. Using the analysis of covariance for continuous variables and logistic regression analysis for discrete variables, gender differences in the formal thought disorder were evaluated.

Results

After adjusting for the effects of marital status and religious affiliation, men showed a significantly higher score on the perseveration (TLC scale ; F=7.538, p=0.007), blocking (TLC scale ; F=8.956, p=0.003), stilted speech (TLC scale ; F=6.921, p=0.009), lack of details (CLANG ; F=7.375, p=0.007), dysfluency (CLANG ; F=21.250, p<0.0001), and dysarthria (CLANG ; F=31.198, p<0.0001) items than women.

Conclusion

Our study has a virtue of exploring gender differences in the formal thought disorder in patients with schizophrenia. Based on our findings, further study might enlighten regarding neural correlates (namely, cerebral asymmetry/lateralization) for gender-differed patterns of the formal thought disorder in patients with schizophrenia.

Keywords: Formal thought disorder, Thought, Language, Gender, Schizophrenia

Figures and Tables

Table 1

Gender differences in the baseline variables and assessment scale scores in patients with schizophrenia

*: Adjusted for the effects of marital status and religious affiliation, ^†: n=131. SD : Standard deviation

Table 2

Gender differences in the formal thought disorder in patients with schizophrenia (i)

*: p<0.01, ^†: Adjusted for the effects of marital status and religious affiliation. SD: Standard deviation

Table 3

Gender differences in the formal thought disorder in patients with schizophrenia (ii)

*: p<0.01, ^†: Adjusted for the effects of marital status and religious affiliation. SD: Standard deviation

Acknowledgments

Our study was supported by the Choi Shin-Hai Neuropsychiatry Research Fund (2013) of the Korean Foundation of Neuropsychiatry Research. The funding source had no further role in the study design, in the collection, analysis and interpretation of the data, in the writing of the report or in the decision to submit the paper for publication.

Notes

^{Conflicts of Interest} The authors have no financial conflicts of interest.

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