[Psychomotor disorders in psychiatric patients as a possible basis for new approaches in differential diagnosis and therapy. I. Results of initial studies in depressed and schizophrenic patients]

Abstract

Tests that have rarely been used up to now in the psychomotor examination of psychiatric patients have been put together in accordance with our preliminary investigations to form a broader, standardized battery. With this new battery, which consists of the motorische Leistungsserie, a modified version of the Lincoln-Oseretzky motor development scale and the motor subtest of the Luria-Nebraska neuropsychological battery, a study has been carried out on 15 schizophrenics not actually treated with drugs, 15 endogenous and 15 non-endogenous depressed persons and 15 healthy controls. With the results of such a psychomotor "profile", measured over all items, psychotic patients can be clearly separated from the non-endogenous depressed patients and healthy controls. No significant differences have been found between non-endogenous depressed patients and healthy controls. These results are basically in agreement with many single findings in the literature. Results based on a broader battery for the investigation of psychomotor abilities in psychiatric patients could be of value in difficult differential-diagnostic problems and ought therefore to be studied further. In addition, the movement disturbances in psychotic patients, which have been measured by a broader standardized battery, could be the starting point in the development of specific psychomotor training programmes, which could improve the efficiency of conventional gymnastic and ergotherapeutic treatment methods. In this direction too, further studies would be useful and are indicated.