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Handedness and Epileptic Schizophrenia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Femi Oyebode  and
Kenneth Davison
Femi Oyebode*
Affiliation:
John Conolly Hospital, Birmingham B45 9BD, formerly Senior Registrar, Newcastle General Hospital
Kenneth Davison
Affiliation:
Newcastle General Hospital, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE4 6BE and University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
*
Correspondence
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Abstract

Thirty-two epileptic patients with RDC diagnoses of schizophrenia were tested for handedness on the Annett Handedness Schedule, and handedness was assigned on the basis of Annett–Maudsley criteria. They were compared with three other groups of patients. Five (15.6%) of the epileptic schizophrenic patients were mixed or left handed. The prevalence of mixed and left handedness did not differ between the samples studied. However, there was a significant reduction of mixed and left handedness in male epileptics with schizophrenia. Mixed or left handedness in male epileptics appears to be protective against the development of psychiatric illness in general.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 156 , Issue 2 , February 1990 , pp. 228 - 230
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1990

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