Schizophrenia and psychosomatic illness.

In order to explore the possibility of a mutually exclusive relationship between schizophrenia and certain psychosomatic disorders, 354 adult schizophrenic patients, both acute and chronic, were studied with regard to lifetime prevalence of peptic ulcer, bronchial asthma, neurodermatitis and rheumatoid arthritis. Significant evidence to support the hypothesis of mutual exclusivity was found only in the case of peptic ulcer in the overall sample. Prevalence was higher in younger, more acute patients than in older, chronic patients, but this finding was difficult to interpret. Parallel enquiry into the prevalence of schizophrenia and the same disorders among close family members of the patients yielded inconclusive results.