A case–control study of fingerprint patterns of both hands in persons with and without schizophrenia

ABSTRACT

Background: Schizophrenia is a complex disorder. Abnormal brain functions and aberrant fingerprint patterns are under study to aid in diagnosing schizophrenia. Objectives: The objectives of the study were to study the finger and palm print patterns in patients with schizophrenia, to compare the patterns with those of healthy controls, to find if specific patterns exist in patients with schizophrenia, a cross-sectional comparative case–control study of finger and palm patterns in patients with schizophrenia and age-matched healthy controls was done in a tertiary care teaching hospital in the district of Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu. Materials and Methods: Finger and palm print pattern of 100 patients with schizophrenia and 100 age-matched controls was taken using the standard technique with India ink and studied. Demographic details of both the case and control groups were also collected. Patterns of both the hands of the two groups were analyzed. Descriptive analysis was done. Chi-square test and independent t-test were used for analyzing the mean difference between the variables of the two groups. Results: The frequency of arches was more in cases than controls. The frequency of radial loops was twice in cases than controls. The ulnar loops were less in cases. The mean total finger ridge count and total A-B ridge count were significantly lower in schizophrenia patients than in controls. The mean atd angle was significantly higher in cases than in controls. Conclusion: In our study, the finger and palm print patterns show a statistically significant difference in certain parameters between patients with schizophrenia when compared with controls.