Dermatoglyphics in patients with schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND

There are controversial evidences on the association between fingerprint traits and schizophrenia. We compared fingerprint traits of patients with schizophrenia and normal individuals in Iranian population.

METHODS

Finger tip dermal ridge of 290 patients with schizophrenia and 290 normal subjects were studied for four dermal traits. Data was analyzed with Pearson correlation and student's tests.

RESULTS

Finger print patterns and secondary creases were not significantly different between the two groups (p > 0.05). Although mean ridge counts of left and right index fingers of the case group were greater than the control group (p < 0.05), these differences were not significant in females.

CONCLUSIONS

Probably the left index ridge counts and fluctuating asymmetry in schizophrenic patients are different from those of the normal population. This difference may serve as a diagnostic biological marker for screening people susceptible to schizophrenia. Further studies are needed to determine predictive value of fingerprint trait as a biomarker for the schizophrenia.