TY - JOUR
T1 - Nicotine dependence and symptoms in schizophrenia
T2 - Naturalistic study of complex interactions
AU - Aguilar, M. Carmen
AU - Gurpegui, Manuel
AU - Diaz, Francisco J.
AU - De Leon, Jose
PY - 2005/3
Y1 - 2005/3
N2 - Background: Smoking may have a beneficial effect on either schizophrenic symptoms orantipsychotic 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 schizophrenic symptoms.
AB - Background: Smoking may have a beneficial effect on either schizophrenic symptoms orantipsychotic 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 schizophrenic symptoms.
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U2 - 10.1192/bjp.186.3.215
DO - 10.1192/bjp.186.3.215
M3 - Article
C2 - 15738502
AN - SCOPUS:14844310395
SN - 0007-1250
VL - 186
SP - 215
EP - 221
JO - British Journal of Psychiatry
JF - British Journal of Psychiatry
IS - MAR.
ER -