Abstract
BackgroundPrevious studies have shown that patients with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia have a higher risk for syphilis infection. However, the clinical characteristics of psychotic patients who are infected with syphilis remain unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of syphilis in psychotic patients in Xiamen and to compare the social function and serum biochemical markers between schizophrenia patients with and without syphilis.MethodsThere were a total of 1586 psychotic patients screened for syphilis from May 2016 to August 2017 in Xiamen Mental Health Center. We retrospectively studied 87 schizophrenia patients in this study. The NOSIE-30 score and serum biochemical markers were analyzed for all schizophrenia patients.ResultsThe seroprevalence of syphilis was 3.3% (52/1586) in our study. Schizophrenia patients infected with syphilis (SCZ-S) showed a higher irritability score compared with patients without syphilis (SCZ-C) (p < 0.05). Similarly, the serum CK, CK-MB, K and Cl values were significantly higher in the SCZ-S group than in the SCZ-C group (P < 0.05). In addition, the CK levels in SCZ-S drug-free patients were significantly higher than in drug-free patients in the SCZ-C group (P < 0.05).ConclusionThe seroprevalence of syphilis was 3.3% (52/1586) in our study, which revealed that psychotic patients were at high risk of being infected with Treponema pallidum. In addition, schizophrenia patients infected with syphilis can be more irritable and could have disrupted electrolyte and CK and CK-MB levels.
Highlights
Previous studies have shown that patients with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia have a higher risk for syphilis infection
We conducted a retrospective study to analyze the social function and serum biochemical values in schizophrenia patients with or without syphilis infection in Xiamen, in an attempt to find some valuable indexes for the differential diagnosis and to provide clinical care of such a special population
Seroprevalence of syphilis infection in schizophrenia In our study, 52 patients, including 37 males and 15 females, with different types of mental disorders were diagnosed with syphilis resulting in a prevalence of 3.3% (52/1586)
Summary
Previous studies have shown that patients with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia have a higher risk for syphilis infection. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of syphilis in psychotic patients in Xiamen and to compare the social function and serum biochemical markers between schizophrenia patients with and without syphilis. The main features of schizophrenia included positive symptoms (delusions and hallucinations), negative symptoms (impaired motivation, reduction in spontaneous speech, and social withdrawal) and cognitive impairment. Several articles have shown that clinical symptoms of schizophrenia, such as cognitive impairment, emotional problems, personality changes, delusions, hallucinations, Zhang and Xie BMC Psychiatry (2018) 18:273 manifestation or serum biochemical values in schizophrenia patients coinfected with syphilis. We conducted a retrospective study to analyze the social function and serum biochemical values in schizophrenia patients with or without syphilis infection in Xiamen, in an attempt to find some valuable indexes for the differential diagnosis and to provide clinical care of such a special population
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