Ethnicity and negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia

The purpose of this study was to assess ethnic differences in the negative symptom profile of 25 Anglo American and 26 Mexican American subjects with schizophrenia. Subjects were rated at the end of a 1-2-week medication washout period (time 1) and at discharge (time 2) with the Negative Symptoms Assessment (NSA), Brief Psychiatric Research Scale, (BPRS), the [Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edition)] DSM-IV negative factor score and LAECA acculturation scale. Total NSA scores were significantly higher among Mexican Americans both at time 1 and time 2. Among the five subscales of the NSA, ethnic differences were significant only for the Cognition subscale at time 1. Results indicate no ethnic differences in core negative symptoms (alogia, avolition, flat affect), but do suggest that a cognition-related factor differs between Mexican American and Anglo American schizophrenic patients.