BACKGROUND: Smoking may have a beneficial effect on either schizophrenic symptoms or antipsychotic side-effects, but studies are hampered by the lack of control of confounding factors. AIMS: To explore the self-medication hypothesis in a large sample of stable out-patients with schizophrenia. METHOD: Symptoms, assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), and number of hospitalisations were compared in 250 out-patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia classified into three categories: highly dependent smokers, mildly dependent smokers and non-smokers. Log-linear analysis was used to control for potential confounding and interacting variables. RESULTS: High PANSS total scores and positive symptoms were less frequent in mildly dependent smokers than in non-smokers or highly dependent smokers. The highly dependent smokers had the worst outcome. CONCLUSIONS: The data do not generally support the self-medication hypothesis but rather suggest a complex interaction between nicotine dependence and nicotine dependence and schizophrenic symptoms.
BACKGROUND: Smoking may have a beneficial effect on either schizophrenic symptoms or antipsychotic side-effects, but studies are hampered by the lack of control of confounding factors. AIMS: To explore the self-medication hypothesis in a large sample of stable out-patients with schizophrenia. METHOD: Symptoms, assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), and number of hospitalisations were compared in 250 out-patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia classified into three categories: highly dependent smokers, mildly dependent smokers and non-smokers. Log-linear analysis was used to control for potential confounding and interacting variables. RESULTS: High PANSS total scores and positive symptoms were less frequent in mildly dependent smokers than in non-smokers or highly dependent smokers. The highly dependent smokers had the worst outcome. CONCLUSIONS: The data do not generally support the self-medication hypothesis but rather suggest a complex interaction between nicotine dependence and nicotine dependence and schizophrenic symptoms.
Authors: Zsuzsa Szombathyne Meszaros; Jacqueline A Dimmock; Robert J Ploutz-Snyder; Ynesse Abdul-Malak; Luba Leontieva; Kelly Canfield; Steven L Batki Journal: Am J Addict Date: 2011-07-18
Authors: Xiang Yang Zhang; Da Chun Chen; Yun Long Tan; Mei Hong Xiu; Jingyi Cui; Li Hui; Fu De Yang; Thomas R Kosten Journal: Psychopharmacology (Berl) Date: 2013-08-21 Impact factor: 4.530