Motor and sighting dominance in chronic schizophrenics. Relationship to social competence, age at first admission, and clinical course.

The relationship was examined between sinistral eye and hand preference and age at first hospitalisation, clinical course and social competence in chronic schizophrenics. Motor and sighting dominance were assessed in 52 newly admitted chronic schizophrenic males. Left-handedness in this study was associated with inferior social competence, but left-eyedness with later age of first hospitalisation and proportionally less time spent in hospitals. These findings were only true for paranoid schizophrenics.