A retrospective case-control study of facial emotion recognition in male veterans with chronic schizophrenia and its correlation with interpersonal communication.

OBJECTIVE: To understand the facial emotion recognition of male veterans with chronic schizophrenia and the relationship between facial emotion recognition and interpersonal communication to provide a reference for designing social skills training programmes. METHOD: Fifty-six eligible male patients with chronic schizophrenia who were admitted to our hospital from October 2020 to April 2021 were selected, and 24 healthy people were selected as controls. Facial emotion recognition, social communication skills and self-perceived interpersonal disturbance were assessed using a facial emotion recognition stimulus manual, the Social Skills Checklist (SSC) and the Interpersonal Relationship Integrative Diagnostic Scale (IRIDS). Disease status was assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. RESULTS: Both the control group and the patient group had the highest recognition accuracy for neutral faces. The recognition rate for neutral expression was higher in the control group than in the patient group (p = 0.008). The rate of neutral expressions identified as happiness was higher in the patient group than in the control group (p = 0.001). The identification of anger as happiness was higher in the control group than in the patient group (p = 0.026), and the pattern of misidentification was similar between the control group and the patient group. The accuracy of facial emotion recognition was negatively associated with the age of onset (p < 0.05). The recognition accuracy for happiness was negatively associated with negative symptoms, general pathological symptoms and total scale scores (p < 0.05). The total score for expression recognition was negatively associated with the negative symptom subscale scores (p < 0.05), and there was no correlation between expression recognition and positive symptoms (p > 0.05). The recognition accuracy for happiness was negatively correlated with the IRIDS conversation factor (p < 0.05). The recognition accuracy for happiness and anger and the total scores for facial emotion recognition were negatively correlated with the SSC subscale score and the total score (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively). The main influencing factors on facial emotion recognition were the SSC total score (p < 0.001) and the positive factor score (p = 0.039). CONCLUSION: Veterans with chronic schizophrenia have facial emotion recognition impairments affected by negative symptoms. There is a correlation between facial emotion recognition and interpersonal communication. HIGHLIGHTS: 1. There are extensive facial expression recognition disorders in schizophrenia. 2. The pattern of misidentification was similar in both the control group and the patient group, with the tendency for happiness to be identified as a neutral emotion, anger as happiness, and fear as neutral emotion and anger. 3. Based on the comprehensive assessment of social cognitive impairment in patients with schizophrenia, prospective studies of standardised interventions are designed to provide support for clinical practice.

[Yishen Huoxue Decoction for infertility in elderly men with kidney deficiency and blood stasis].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical effect of Yishen Huoxue Decoction on infertility in elderly men with kidney deficiency and blood stasis. METHODS: We randomly assigned 60 infertility male patients with kidney deficiency and blood stasis to two groups of an equal number to receive Yishen Huoxue Decoction, 1 dose a day, twice daily in the morning and evening (the observation group, aged ï¼»42.10 ± 3.82ï¼½ yr) or Shengjing Tablets (4 tablets once, tid) combined with L-carnitine oral solution at 10 ml, bid (the control group, aged ï¼»42.79 ± 3.56ï¼½ yr), both for 3 months. Before and after treatment, we obtained the semen parameters, levels of reproductive hormones and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) clinical symptoms scores from the patients and compared them between the two groups. RESULTS: A total of 57 patients completed this clinical study, 29 in the observation group, with pregnancy achieved in 2 cases (6.90%), and 28 in the control group, with pregnancy achieved in 1 (3.57%). The patients in the observation group, compared with the controls, showed significantly higher total effectiveness (82.76% vs 71.43%, P < 0.05) and overall therapeutic efficacy on TCM syndromes (93.10% vs 85.71%, P < 0.05), as well as higher semen volume, sperm concentration, total sperm count, total sperm motility, percentages of progressively motile sperm (PMS) and morphologically normal sperm (MNS), and TCM clinical symptoms scores (all P < 0.05), but no statistically significant difference in the levels of reproductive hormones (E2, LH, PRL, T and FSH) (P > 0.05). Remarkable increases were observed in both the observation and control groups after medication in sperm concentration, total sperm count, total sperm motility, PMS, MNS, and TCM clinical symptom scores (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Yishen Huoxue Decoction can significantly improve the semen quality and TCM clinical symptoms of elderly infertility males with kidney deficiency and blood stasis.