The influence of religious activity and polygenic schizophrenia risk on religious delusions in schizophrenia

Anderson-Schmidt, Heike; Gade, Katrin; Malzahn, Doerthe; Papiol, Sergi; Budde, Monika; Heilbronner, Urs; Reich-Erkelenz, Daniela; Adorjan, Kristina; Kalman, Janos L.; Senner, Fanny; Comes, Ashley L.; Flatau, Laura; Gryaznova, Anna; Hake, Maria; Reitt, Markus; Schmauss, Max; Juckel, Georg; Reimer, Jens; Zimmermann, Jörg; Figge, Christian; Reininghaus, Eva; Anghelescu, Ion-George; Konrad, Carsten; Thiel, Andreas; Hagen, Martin von; Koller, Manfred; Stierl, Sebastian; Scherk, Harald; Spitzer, Carsten; Folkerts, Here; Becker, Thomas; Dietrich, Detlef E.; Andlauer, Till F. M.; Degenhardt, Franziska; Noethen, Markus M.; Witt, Stephanie H.; Rietschel, Marcella; Wiltfang, Jens; Falkai, Peter und Schulze, Thomas G. (2019): The influence of religious activity and polygenic schizophrenia risk on religious delusions in schizophrenia. In: Schizophrenia Research, Bd. 210: S. 255-261

Abstract

Background: Religious delusions are a common symptom in patients experiencing psychosis, with varying prevalence rates of religious delusions across cultures and societies. To enhance our knowledge of this distinct psychotic feature, we investigated the mutually-adjusted association of genetic and environmental factors with occurrence of religious delusions. Methods: We studied 262 adult German patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Associationwith lifetime occurrence of religious delusions was tested by multiple logistic regression for the following putative predictors: self-reported degree of religious activity, DSM-IV diagnosis, sex, age, education level, marital status, presence of acute delusion at the time of interview and an individual polygenic schizophrenia-risk score (SZPRS, available in 239 subjects). Results: Of the 262 patients, 101 (39%) had experienced religious delusions. The risk of experiencing religious delusions was significantly increased in patients with strong religious activity compared to patients without religious affiliation (OR = 3.6, p = 0.010). Low or moderate religious activity had no significant effect. The same analysis including the SZ-PRS confirmed the effect of high religious activity on occurrence of religious delusions (OR = 4.1, p = 0.008). Additionally, the risk of experiencing religious delusions increased with higher SZ-PRS (OR 1.4, p= 0.020, using pT= 0.05 for SZ-PRS calculation). None of the other variables were significantly associated with lifetime occurrence of religious delusions. Conclusions: Our results suggest that strong religious activity and high SZ-PRS are independent risk factors for the occurrence of religious delusions in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Medizin
• Themengebiete: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften > 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
• ISSN: 0920-9964
• Sprache: Englisch