Schizophrenia, Schizo-Affective Disorder
Conditions
Keywords
Schizophrenia, Schizo-Affective Disorder, Stress, Cortisol, PANSS
Brief summary
The importance of stress as a possible deteriorating factor for schizophrenic patients is well documented. However, this notion is based on subjective experience and retrospective psychological analysis. A novel method of measuring cortisol using hair has a proven correlation to subjective stress in non-clinical as well as psychiatric clinical populations. This pilot study will attempt to assess the use of cortisol hair level, as a marker of stress, to predict clinical deterioration in schizophrenic patients.
Interventions
BIOLOGICALHair Sample
Analysis of hair cortisol levels
Sponsors
Shalvata Mental Health Center
Study design
Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 50 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Age 18-50 * Diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, made by a senior psychiatrist. * Signing an informed consent.
Exclusion criteria
* Additional psychiatric diagnosis * Boldness or hair shorter than 1cm * Physiological disturbance in the HPA or the use of steroidal medication * Neurological disease (past or present) or neurosurgery. * Pregnancy * Substantial chronic physical diseases/
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change from Baseline in Positive And Negative Symptoms Score | 3 month | correlation between hair cortisol level change from baseline and PANSS score change from baseline. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change from Baseline in SANS, CGI, CDS, GAF and QOL Scores | 3 month | correlation between hair cortisol level change from baseline and SANS, CDS, GAF, CGI, and QOL scores change from baseline. |
Countries
Israel
Outcome results
None listed