Dermatoglyphics in patients with schizophrenia*

BACKGROUND: There are controversial evidences on the association between fingerprint traits and schizophrenia. We compared fingerprint traits of patients with schizophrenia and normal individuals in Iranian population. METHODS: Finger tip dermal ridge of 290 patients with schizophrenia and 290 normal subjects were studied for four dermal traits. Data was analyzed with Pearson correlation and student's tests. RESULTS: Finger print patterns and secondary creases were not significantly different between the two groups (p > 0.05). Although mean ridge counts of left and right index fingers of the case group were greater than the control group (p < 0.05), these differences were not significant in females. CONCLUSIONS: Probably the left index ridge counts and fluctuating asymmetry in schizophrenic patients are different from those of the normal population. This difference may serve as a diagnostic biological marker for screening people susceptible to schizophrenia. Further studies are needed to determine predictive value of fingerprint trait as a biomarker for the schizophrenia.