Schizophrenia: impact of positive symptoms on gender social role

A cross-sectional survey was conducted at one public and one private schizophrenia outpatient setting in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, in order to study gender differences in social disabilities. Sixty-nine patients who fulfilled DSM-III-R diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia were assessed by means of Brazilian versions of PANSS (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale) and DAS (Disability Assessment Scale). Males presented an earlier onset of the disease and were less likely to have ever married. With respect to social disabilities, males fared worse than females on three items of DAS: self-care, under-activity and work performance. The adjusted scores of Section 1 (Overall Behavior) and Section 2 (Social Role Performance) were submitted to multiple regression analysis using the variables of sex, age of onset, age at examination, educational level, number of psychiatric admissions and the total scores of the positive and negative syndromes. Three variables explained a substantial part (45%) of the variance of overall behavior. These three were sex, age at examination, and negative syndrome total score. The higher the negative syndrome total score, the greater the disabilities for both sexes. Three variables explained 38% of the variance of social role performance. These were sex, negative symptoms and an interaction between sex and positive symptoms. The higher the negative syndrome total score, the greater the role impairment, regardless of sex. In women, but not in men, we found that the higher the positive syndrome total score, the greater the impairment in social role performance. These findings are discussed in light of the possible impact of positive symptomatology on female social role.