مقايسه برخي از ويژگي هاي گفتاري و زباني افراد مبتلا به اسكيزوفرنيا با گروه شاهد

Comparing Some Speech and Linguistics Characteristics of persons with Schizophrenia to The Control Group

Objective: Research on speech characteristics of the persons with schizophrenia is a major topic in the field of clinical linguistics and speech therapy. Despite its relatively long history in the western literature, it has not been well recognized in Iran. This study. sought to identify outstanding features of speech in persons with schizophrenia as compared to normal individuals, for enhanced clinical application. Method: In this cross-sectional analytical study two groups of 22 persons were selected as the schizophrenia (5 females, 17 males) and control (5 females, 17 males) groups. Their speech samples were obtained using the spontaneous speech section of the Persian Disorganized Speech Scale, and linguistics analysis was done on five speech domains. Data were then analyzed statistically by independent t- and Mann-Whitney tests. Results: Analyses revealed no weird phonological transformation or break of semantic - syntax filters in either of groups. The patient group had a significantly lower percentage of command morphemes and a significantly higher percentage of diction morphemes. Frequency of neologism and percentage of errors in the speech integrity and continuity were markedly higher in the patient group. Conclusion: The results revealed basic differences in the speech of persons with schizophrenia as compared to normal individuals in the domains of neologism, speech integrity and continuity, and frequency of using diction and command morphemes.