GENDER DIFFERENCES IN AUDITORY HALLUCINATIONS IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

Introduction: Gender differences in the clinical presentation of patients with schizophrenia have been well documented, yet few studies have investigated gender-related clinical differences of auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia. We compared a group of men and women schizophrenics with auditory hallucinations (AH) in order to evaluate the possibility of characterizing relevant dimensions in this symptom between genders. Methods: The Psychotic symptom rating scale (PSYRATS) for auditory hallucinations was administered to 123 patients (86 men, 37 women) who met DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia with AH. Patients were also assessed about demographic variables, including age of onset and whether AH were persistent. Results: The results showed that women had greater scores in the dimension “beliefs re-origin” (p<0.034) of the PSYRATS, having a more delusional interpretation about the origin of voices, while men had more persistent AH (p<0.026) and an earlier age of onset (p<029). Conclusions: The findings of our study suggest that gender differences contribute to some dimensions of auditory verbal hallucinations despite the lack of more expected remarkable differences between men and women patients with schizophrenia. References [1] Rector NA, Seeman MV. Auditory hallucinations in women and men.