Descriptive study of 20 patients with schizophrenia in Boyacá, Colombia

Schizophrenia is a multifactorial disease with high genetic heterogeneity and complex inheritance. In Boyacá, Colombia, we studied a group of 20 schizophrenic patients (16 men and four women) in order to establish their socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, and the genetic and predisposing factors. Cytogenetic studies and a descriptive analysis of qualitative and quantitative variables were done. More often the disease started in young adults (average age of initiation: 22.5 years). The predominant subtype (8/20) was paranoid schizophrenia, with progressive start (14/20). Predisposing factors were found in 15 patients, namely: physical in nine, social in five and economic in one. All cariotypes were normal. Clinical features did not associate with either the sociodemographic characteristics or the genetic and predisposing factors; this is evidence of the clinical heterogeneity of schizophrenia. Patients and their families received genetic counseling and explanations on the results, the possibility of recurrences and the risk of suffering the disease when a relative is affected by it. Further and larger studies are required in order to determine if the factors evaluated in this work have influence on the development of the disease.