SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC AND CLINICAL CORRELATES OF SCHIZOPHRENIA PREVALENCE: A CROSS-SECTIONAL ANALYSIS OF SYMPTOM PATTERNS AND RISK FACTORS IN A PAKISTANI PSYCHIATRIC COHORT

Abstract

At Sarhad Hospital for Psychiatric Diseases in Peshawar, Pakistan, a six-month study from March to August 2018 explored the prevalence and characteristics of schizophrenia among 700 patients with various mental health conditions. Using DSM-IV criteria, we found that schizophrenia was the most common diagnosis, affecting 243 individuals (34.7%), followed by depression (26.1%), obsessive-compulsive disorder (10.0%), bipolar disorder (8.1%), and anxiety (7.9%). Most schizophrenia patients were male (76.5%), over 35 years old (40.7%), and uneducated (57.6%), with many being married (46.5%) or single (46.1%) and from middle-class backgrounds (71.2%). Financially, patients often relied on self-employment (24.3%) or family support. The onset of schizophrenia was most frequent within the first year or between 5–10 years. Clinically, positive symptoms like delusions (moderately severe in 4.1%) and hallucinations (moderately present in 5.3%) were prominent, while negative symptoms, such as blunted affect (severe in 1.6%) or passive social withdrawal (minimal in 39.9%), varied in intensity. Statistical analysis (SPSS, p<0.05) showed no significant link between predisposing factors and symptom severity (p-values: 0.4 for positive, 0.3 for negative, 0.5 for general symptoms), possibly due to cultural underreporting. These findings highlight schizophrenia’s significant burden and call for targeted interventions to address its socio-demographic and clinical challenges in Pakistan.