[Significance of primary negative symptoms in schizophrenic and other psychiatric patients]

We report on a short overview of our work which has examined different definitions of negative syndromes across a broad spectrum of diagnoses. Primary enduring negative symptoms were assessed with the Schedule for Deficit Syndrome (SDS) and with the Scale for Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) in schizophrenic and non-schizophrenic patients. Results suggested that patients with psychotic disorders are in a high-risk group for deficit syndrome. A further study included (in the deficit group) only neuroleptic-free patients without current depression or psychosis. The frequency of primary enduring negative symptoms (PENS) showed no significant difference between schizophrenic and depressive patients. Study three compared primary negative symptoms between schizophrenic and nonschizophrenic patients. There were no significant differences between both groups with regard to the SANS scores. The last study compared primary with secondary negative symptom complexes by means of the SANS. No significant differences could be found. The results suggest that PENS are not specific for schizophrenia. Moreover, further efforts are indicated to grasp "core" deficiencies in psychoses with help of new operationalized instruments.