Palmar Dermatoglyphic Traits of Schizophrenic Patients and Healthy Controls

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to examine the differences in palmar dermatoglyphic traits between healthy controls and schizophrenic patients, thus to investigate their possible diagnostic significance in relation to the disease. The study included 344 subjects of Bulgarian ethnicity, aged 18–64 years, 285 mentally healthy and 59 schizophrenic patients. The patients met DSMV criteria for schizophrenia. Palmar prints were obtained by the typographic method, in a rotating manner. Palmar dermatoglyphic traits are determined according to the rules of Cummins and Midlo [18]. The data were statistically analyzed using the SPSS software version 17.0. Our results showed that on the right hand the differences of palmar patterns between healthy and diseased males in interdigital area IV reached statistical significance (p < 0.05). On the left hand, the differences between healthy and diseased males in interdigital area IV reached high statistical significance (p < 0.001). There was a significant increase in the frequency of Line A ending in the fields 5I and 5II on both hands of diseased males, while in diseased females – in fields 3 and 4 only on the left hand. A higher frequency of accessorytriradii in diseased males was found on both hands compared to the healthy ones, as the frequency differences of accessory triradii for the left hand were significant (p < 0.01). The study confirms the presence of palmar dermatoglyphic dissociations in psychiatric patients, the differences with the healthy are in the palmar patterns, accessory triradii, and in the ending fields of the main Line A.