J. Brewin

Minor physical anomalies in schizophrenia: is age a confounding factor?

Minor physical anomalies (MPAs) occur more frequently in a range of developmental disorders. They are also more frequent in schizophrenia supporting a neurodevelopmental aetiology of the illness. Contemporary MPA scales are yet to be validated for the effects of age. It is hypothesised that the effects of ageing may be confounding when these scales are applied to an elderly population. The distribution of MPAs in a normal elderly population was compared with younger subjects. Fifty subjects over the age of 60, and 50 subjects below the age of 60, with no known major mental illness, were evaluated. MPAs were assessed using a modified Lane scale [Psychol. Med. 27 (1997) 1155]. Elderly subjects showed an excess of absent trichions due to alopecia (p=0.004) short and broad palates (p=0.01) and greater ear protrusion (p=0.004) relative to young subjects. The differences reported are probably due to hair loss, edentulousness and growth of the auriculocephalic angle with age. These findings question the validity of studies of MPAs in schizophrenia that do not control for age.