Self-reports in chronic schizophrenic patients with primary negative symptoms: preliminary results

The Frankfurt well-being scale (FBS), an instrument for evaluating the global inner state in schizophrenic patients, was used in a pilot study with 26 chronic schizophrenic inpatients simultaneously with the Munich version of the Andreasen scale (SANS). 11 of 26 patients were able to complete the FBS questions. These patients had weaker negative symptomatology (SANS total score) and the difference was highly significant (p less than 0.01) for the score "alogia". The major goal of the investigation was to contribute to the identification of those subgroups of schizophrenic patients who are not capable of filling in a self-report questionnaire. The results suggest that self-reports of actual mood in chronic schizophrenic patients are possible only in a subgroup of patients with no more than moderate primary negative symptoms, particularly those with a low alogia score. Further efforts to evaluate the subjective well-being of chronic patients differing in severity of negative symptoms complexes, could improve methods for evaluating the effect of psychotropic drugs.