A. Bada', U. Albert, G. Maina, F. Bogetto- Vol. 6, Dicembre 2000, num.4
Testo Immagini Bibliografia Summary Riassunto Indice
Influenza del genere sulla espressività
clinica del disturbo delirante
Gender effects on clinical features in delusional disorder
Few studies have been performed aimed at characterizing patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of Delusional Disorder (DD).
Objective
The present study was aimed at evaluating in a sample of 35 patients:
1. the prevalence of DD according to gender and,
2. gender-related clinical differences.
Methods
All patients had to meet DSM-IV criteria for DD to be admitted to the
study. Moreover, patients were included only if, at the Brown Assessment of
Beliefs Scale (BABS), they had a total score >18 and a score equal
to 4 at the first item of this scale. All patients underwent a semistructured
interview and several rating scales were used (BABS, SASS, HDRS, HARS). Patients
were divided in two groups according to gender; demographic and clinical features
were then compared.
Results
Our sample comprised 12 males (34.3%) and 23 females (65.7%), with a male
to female ratio of 1 to 2. Most of the demographic and clinical features considered
in our study resulted similar in both sexes, without statistical ly significant
differences. Females tended to have an earlier age at onset of the disorder
(37.5 ± 10.6 vs. 39.3 ± 12.8 years), while males an earlier age at first psychiatric
visit (41.8 ± 12.7 vs. 45.4 ± 14.5 years), although these differences did
not reach statistical significance. Females, moreover, tended to have more
frequent and severe life events prior to DD onset, and more present and lifetime
comorbid axis I disorders.
Discussion
Our data suggest that, in clinical samples, DD is more frequent in females
than in males. The analysis of demographic and clinical features of the disorder
seem to suggest that DD is a homogeneous nosographic category, although our
data need to be replicated in larger samples in order to augment statistical
power.