[Relationship between insight, violence and diagnoses in psychotic patients]

Abstract

Introduction: Lack of insight is a common clinical problem in psichiatric patients, but few times has been properly studied until recently. Patients with good insight tend to show a better treatment adherence with a better prognosis and swow less hostility. This study aims to investigate whether there is a relationship between the hostility degree and insight or not and to anlalyze if there are insight quantitative differences between the patients regarding their diagnoses.

Method: 168 psychotic patients were studied (including 86 patients with schizophrenia and 43 with bipolar disorder). PANNS P7 (hostility) item and G14 (poor impulse control) were analized in order to assess patients' violence and G12 in order to assess insight. All these data was correlated. It was also analyzed the PANSS results of schizophrenic vs bipolar patients regarding insight and hostility separately looking for a more homogenic pull of patients.

Results: Patients with greater hostility showed a worse impulse control and poorer insight than the rest. Schizophrenic patients showed a greater hostility and lower insight than bipolar patients.

Discussion: Lack of insight may lead to a greater hostility and worse impulse control. Therapeutic interventions adressed to improve insight could indirectly lower hostility and gain a better impulse control for psychotic patients.