Eastern Journal of Psychiatry

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VOLUME 13 , ISSUE 1-2 ( February-August, 2010 ) > List of Articles

Original Article

Insight into Schizophrenia: A Comparative Study between Patients and Family Members

Shyamanta Das, Dipesh Bhagabati, Uddip Talukdar

Keywords : Schizophrenia. Awareness. Self concept. Family relations. Social environment

Citation Information : Das S, Bhagabati D, Talukdar U. Insight into Schizophrenia: A Comparative Study between Patients and Family Members. 2010; 13 (1-2):10-18.

DOI: 10.5005/EJP-13-1--2-10

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

Published Online: 13-10-2021

Copyright Statement:  Copyright © 2010; The Author(s).


Abstract

Background: Despite the recognition of the role that sociocultural factors play in the process of acquiring insight, recent research on this issue is scare. Aim of the present study was to compare patients’ insight with family members’ insight. Method: 50 patients with schizophrenia (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems – Tenth Revision – ICD-10) undergoing treatment and members of their families were interviewed using the Schedule for Assessment of Insight (SAI). It was a cross-sectional study. Results: Family members performed better than patients in the total and partial SAI scores [total: 11 to 6.7 (p < 0.0001); adherence: 3.84 to 2.7 (p < 0.0001); recognition of illness: 4.54 to 2.84 (p < 0.0001); relabeling of psychotic phenomena: 2.62 to 1.16 (p < 0.0001)]. However, when the scores were correlated for each patientfamily member pair, the partial scores had positive correlations (adherence r = 0.07191; recognition of illness r = 0.1632; relabeling of psychotic phenomena r = 0.2052). Conclusion: There was a positive correlation between the scores of family members and patients regarding adherence, recognition of illness and the ability to relabel psychotic phenomena as abnormal. This might be understood as a stronger influence of sociocultural factors in these dimensions. The fact that family members were not assessed for the presence of psychopathology is a limitation of this study.


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