Diagnosis of schizophrenia in a matched sample of Australian aborigines

Cross-cultural phenomenology is one method of studying mental disorders such as schizophrenia. There are few data of this nature available on Australian aborigines. Using a retrospective medical record review of 39 matched pairs of aboriginal and nonaboriginal patients discharged as schizophrenic from a psychiatric hospital, this study investigated whether any phenomenological differences, using DSM-III-R criteria, existed between the two groups. Of all criteria, bizarre delusions, social deterioration, illness duration and organic exclusion were statistically significant, with fewer aboriginal subjects having documentation for each of these variables. Possible explanations for these findings, including intergroup phenomenological differences and assessment variation, are discussed.