Ectomorphic somatotype and joint hypermobility as potential markers for co-morbid anxiety in schizophrenia

© Sociedad Iberoamericana de Información Científica (SIIC), 2014. Aim: To evaluate whether the reported link between anxiety disorders and joint hypermobility syndrome still holds in the presence of schizophrenia, and to ascertain its clinical relevance. Methods: Twenty schizophrenic case-patients (10 men and 10 women) with a comorbid anxiety disorder diagnosed by SCID-I were compared to 20 schizophrenic control-patients without anxiety, matched by gender. Sociodemographic characteristics, positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia (PANSS), Liebowitz Social Anxiety scale (LSAS), Social Adjustment Scale (SAS), somatotype (Heath-Carter method), minor physical anomalies (Waldrop scale), and Hospital del Mar criteria for joint hypermobility were also assessed. Results: There were no significant differences by gender between cases and controls in terms of age and sociodemographic characteristics (educational level, marital status and labor situation). Men displaying anxiety were significantly more ectomorphic (U = 20; p = 0.023), more hypermobile (U = 21; p = 0.025) and had fewer minor physical anomalies (U = 14.5; p = 0.007) than controls. Women with anxiety were significantly more ectomorphic (U = 17; p = 0.009) and more hypermobile (U = 19; p = 0.017) than controls. In the entire sample, after adjusting for age and sex, joint hypermobility was independently related to social anxiety (odds ratio [OR] = 1.1; 95%CI: 1.02-1.2). Discussion: In patients with schizophrenia, the association between JHS, ectomorphic somatotype and co-morbid anxiety seems to persist. It is a probable clinical biological marker of interest.