An initial investigation of abnormal bodily phenomena in subjects at ultra high risk for psychosis: Their prevalence and clinical implications.

BACKGROUND: Contemporary phenomenological research has considered abnormal bodily phenomena (ABP) to be a phenotypic trait of subjects with schizophrenia in their first psychotic episode. Yet the prevalence of ABP and their clinical significance in subjects at Ultra High Risk (UHR) of psychosis remain unidentified. This study is an exploratory investigation of ABP in UHR subjects and matched healthy controls (HCs) examining their relation to clinical features and basic self-disturbances. METHODS: A sample of 26 UHR and 14 HC subjects from three prodromal and early intervention clinics in South London, West London and Cambridge was assessed with the Abnormal Bodily Phenomena questionnaire (ABPq), Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental States (CAARMS), the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale (SOFAS) and the Examination of Anomalous Self Experiences (EASE) checklist. RESULTS: In our sample ABP occurred in 73.1% of UHR subjects and prominent ABP (proABP) were referred in 53.8% of them. No HC subject reported ABP. The UHR group with proABP had lower CAARMS total score (t=-9.265, p=0.006). There were no differences in PANSS total score (t=-1.235, p=0.277), SOFAS score (H(2) 22.27, p=0.666) and EASE total scores (z=8.565, adjusted p=0.185) in the UHR subjects with prominent ABP versus those that did not. DISCUSSION: This initial investigation suggests that ABP could be a prevalent phenotypic feature of UHR subjects.

Prevalence and implications of Truman symptoms in subjects at ultra high risk for psychosis.

Preliminary qualitative research has suggested that patients with early stages of psychosis and those at Ultra High Risk (UHR) may experience "Truman symptoms" (TS). This study is an exploratory investigation of TS in a sample of 26 UHR subjects and 14 matched controls (HC) recruited from three prodromal and early intervention clinics and its relation with clinical features, depersonalization and basic self-disturbances. The UHR were assessed with the Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental States (CAARMS), Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale (SOFAS), the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Cambridge Depersonalization Scale (CDS) and the Examination of Anomalous Self Experiences (EASE) checklist. In our sample, TS were specific (TS absent in HC) and highly prevalent (50%) in UHR subjects. We found a significant difference in EASE total scores across HC, UHR with TS and without TS but post-hoc analyses showed similar scores in the two latter groups. The presence of TS in our UHR sample was associated with significant higher PANSS general psychopathology but with non-significant difference in the CAARMS, CDS and SOFAS scores. This study of TS in UHR subjects suggested that they might be prevalent and specific of this population.