Prevalence and frequency of first rank symptoms in patients of schizophrenia attending tertiary care center in north-eastern part of India

Background: Schizophrenia is perhaps the most tragic manifestation of mental illness known to mankind. The consequences of the illness are devastating. Kurt Schneider tried to make the diagnosis of schizophrenia more reliable by identifying a group of eleven symptoms characteristic of the illness, but rarely found in other disorders, these were his First Rank Symptoms. Objectives:1. To assess the socio-demographic and clinical profile of the schizophrenics. 2. To find the prevalence and frequency of First Rank Symptoms (FRS) Materials and Method: This study was prospective cross sectional.100 consecutive schizophrenic patients from Psychiatric OPD was taken, diagnosed using ICD-10 criteria. FRS was assessed using items from the SCAN and Mellor’s Checklist. The data obtained was analyzed using SPSS Version 21. Results: Most of the patients were within 27-37 years (41%), females (56%), Muslims (50%), primary school educated (38%), unskilled workers (32%), married (63%), from lower middle class socio-economic status (36%), belonging from rural area (72%). Also, majority were neither first born nor last born (57%), belonged to nuclear families (51%), had a duration of illness of more than twelve months (77%), did not have a family history of psychotic illness (61%). First Rank Symptoms was found in 34% of cases, single FRS in 27%. Commonest FRS was found to be “voices commenting” (21%). Conclusion: The study of the symptomatology provides an excellent opportunity to discuss the cross-sectional profile of an illness. The study of FRS is still significant in today’s context as they are more objective and easier for clinicians to recognize and there are very few studies in this topic in NE India.