Luis Madeira1, Ilaria Bonoldi2, Matteo Rocchetti3, Carly Samson4, Matilda Azis4, Beverly Queen5, Matthijs Bossong4, Jesus Perez6, James Stone7, Paul Allen4, Oliver D Howes4, Philip McGuire8, Andrea Raballo9, Paolo Fusar-Poli8, Massimo Ballerini10, Giovanni Stanghellini11. 1. Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK; "OASIS" prodromal clinic, SLaM NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK; Hospital Santa Maria, Psychiatry Department, Lisbon, Portugal. Electronic address: luismadeiramd@gmail.com. 2. Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK; "OASIS" prodromal clinic, SLaM NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK; Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy. 3. Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK; Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy. 4. Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK. 5. CAMEO Early Intervention Services, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, UK. 6. CAMEO Early Intervention Services, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, UK; Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, UK. 7. The West London Early Intervention Service, Imperial College, London, UK. 8. Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK; "OASIS" prodromal clinic, SLaM NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK. 9. Department of Psychiatric Research, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway; NORMENT and K.G. Jebsen Centre for Psychosis Research, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. 10. Department of Mental Health, Florence, Italy. 11. 'G. D'Annunzio' University, Chieti, Italy; 'D. Portales' University, Santiago, Chile.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Contemporary phenomenological research has considered abnormal bodily phenomena (ABP) to be a phenotypic trait of subjects with schizophrenia in their first psychotic episode. Yet the prevalence of ABP and their clinical significance in subjects at Ultra High Risk (UHR) of psychosis remain unidentified. This study is an exploratory investigation of ABP in UHR subjects and matched healthy controls (HCs) examining their relation to clinical features and basic self-disturbances. METHODS: A sample of 26 UHR and 14 HC subjects from three prodromal and early intervention clinics in South London, West London and Cambridge was assessed with the Abnormal Bodily Phenomena questionnaire (ABPq), Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental States (CAARMS), the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale (SOFAS) and the Examination of Anomalous Self Experiences (EASE) checklist. RESULTS: In our sample ABP occurred in 73.1% of UHR subjects and prominent ABP (proABP) were referred in 53.8% of them. No HC subject reported ABP. The UHR group with proABP had lower CAARMS total score (t=-9.265, p=0.006). There were no differences in PANSS total score (t=-1.235, p=0.277), SOFAS score (H(2) 22.27, p=0.666) and EASE total scores (z=8.565, adjusted p=0.185) in the UHR subjects with prominent ABP versus those that did not. DISCUSSION: This initial investigation suggests that ABP could be a prevalent phenotypic feature of UHR subjects.
BACKGROUND: Contemporary phenomenological research has considered abnormal bodily phenomena (ABP) to be a phenotypic trait of subjects with schizophrenia in their first psychotic episode. Yet the prevalence of ABP and their clinical significance in subjects at Ultra High Risk (UHR) of psychosis remain unidentified. This study is an exploratory investigation of ABP in UHR subjects and matched healthy controls (HCs) examining their relation to clinical features and basic self-disturbances. METHODS: A sample of 26 UHR and 14 HC subjects from three prodromal and early intervention clinics in South London, West London and Cambridge was assessed with the Abnormal Bodily Phenomena questionnaire (ABPq), Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental States (CAARMS), the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale (SOFAS) and the Examination of Anomalous Self Experiences (EASE) checklist. RESULTS: In our sample ABP occurred in 73.1% of UHR subjects and prominent ABP (proABP) were referred in 53.8% of them. No HC subject reported ABP. The UHR group with proABP had lower CAARMS total score (t=-9.265, p=0.006). There were no differences in PANSS total score (t=-1.235, p=0.277), SOFAS score (H(2) 22.27, p=0.666) and EASE total scores (z=8.565, adjusted p=0.185) in the UHR subjects with prominent ABP versus those that did not. DISCUSSION: This initial investigation suggests that ABP could be a prevalent phenotypic feature of UHR subjects.