Study of delusions in Kenyan schizophrenic patients diagnosed using a set of research diagnostic criteria

Abstract

Eighty 'psychotic' Kenyan patients of African origin were screened using the New Haven Schizophrenic Index (NHSI). Fifty-one of these (64%) were found positive. Delusions were found to be significantly more common (P less than 0.001) in the NHSI positive group than in the negative group. Sex and age had no effect on the distribution of delusions in general but level of education did. These findings are compared and contrasted with findings of similar investigations and some of their implications are discussed.