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. 2002 Jan:180:35-8.
doi: 10.1192/bjp.180.1.35.

Heritability of Schneider's first-rank symptoms

Alastair G Cardno  1 , Pak C Sham, Anne E Farmer, Robin M Murray, Peter McGuffin
Affiliations

Heritability of Schneider's first-rank symptoms

Alastair G Cardno et al. Br J Psychiatry. 2002 Jan.

Abstract

Background: Schneider's first-rank symptoms are given particular weight when making a diagnosis of schizophrenia, but the nuclear syndrome, characterised by one or more first-rank symptoms, has been found previously to have no heritability.

Aims: To estimate the heritability of the nuclear syndrome.

Method: A total of 224 twin pairs (106 monozygotic, 118 same-gender dizygotic) were ascertained from the Maudsley Twin Register in London via probands with any psychosis. Lifetime-ever first-rank symptoms were rated using the OPCRIT checklist. Probandwise concordance rates were calculated for the nuclear syndrome and a heritability estimate was derived from biometric model fitting.

Results: Probandwise concordance rates were 13/49 (26.5%) for monozygotic and 0/45 to 2/46 (0.0-4.3%) for dizygotic pairs. The heritability estimate for the best-fitting model was 71% (95% CI 57-82).

Conclusions: These results indicate that the nuclear syndrome shows substantial heritability, although this is slightly lower than that for schizophrenia as defined by the DSM and ICD systems.

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