Co-morbid social phobia in schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND

The co-morbid occurrence of anxiety disorders and schizophrenia has recently begun to be investigated. Social anxiety may be especially important to diagnose and manage among patients with schizophrenia.

AIM: To investigate the prevalence and correlates of social phobia in patients with schizophrenia.

METHOD: Diagnosis of schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders as well as co-morbid anxiety disorders was established according to DSM-IV and the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnosis (SCID-P Hebrew version). Severity of psychotic symptoms and social anxiety symptoms was assessed with the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS) and the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS).

RESULTS

The cohort studied included 117 patients with schizophrenia. Thirteen patients were diagnosed as suffering from co-morbid social phobia (11%). There was a tendency for patients with co-morbid social phobia to have higher severity PANSS total score. There was a significant correlation between the score of the LSAS ;fear' and PANSS positive subscales. Avoidance scores were higher among patients with negative signs.

CONCLUSION

Co-morbidity of schizophrenia and social anxiety disorder is not rare among patients with schizophrenia. Treatment implications need be further investigated.