Dermatoglyphics in schizophrenia: qualitative aspects

The study was designed to analyse the value of specific dermatoglyphic characters in assessing prenatal injuries in schizophrenic patients. Analysis of pattern frequency in schizophrenics and normal controls, sex related differences in hand-print patterns in schizophrenic patients, and relationship between dermatoglyphic characters and age of onset of the disease was made.

Hand-prints of 42 schizophrenic inpatients meeting the DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia and 36 normal controls were obtained using the ink method. To avoid possible confounding, patients with diagnoses of the schizophrenic spectrum, i.e., schizophreniform and schizoaffective, schizotypal and schizoid personality disorder were excluded from the study.

Statistically significant differences in the finger-print patterns were found between the schizophrenic patients and controls. In males this was largely attributed to the increase of whorls and in females--to the increase of arches. Patients with early age of onset showed higher frequency of Lr pattern in the hypothenar area. In terms of dermatoglyphic characters and season of birth the differences did not reach statistical significance.

The results show an association between the frequency of certain dermatoglyphic characters and schizophrenia. The nature of association can be better evaluated by using the schizophrenia types in further analyses.