Global Journal of Medical Research, A: Neurology & Nervous System, Volume 23 Issue 3

their CBC performed elsewhere, and the patient or family member is asked to access it (we had eight cases in these conditions). b) Statistical Analysis Data analysis was performed using the Statistical Package of Social Science (SSP) software version 27.0, where 82 individuals were analyzed. A descriptive analysis was made of the clinical and sociodemographic characteristics of the total sample and both groups, shown as mean and standard deviation or frequency and percentage. Quantitative variables (inflammation markers, age, time of diagnosis of schizophrenia, number of psychiatric hospitalizations) were described using the mean and standard deviation or median and interquartile range. Categorical variables (gender, family income, education, scales, medications, comorbidities) were described by absolute frequencies and percentages. The t-student test was used to compare means between the groups with social anxiety and without social anxiety. In the case of asymmetry, the Mann- Whitney test was applied. Pearson's chi-square or Fisher's exact tests were used to compare proportions. Spearman's correlation coefficient was applied to evaluate the correlations between the inflammation markers and the scales under study. Wilcoxon's test was used to compare Liebowitz Scale items about fear and avoidance and between performance and social anxieties. The significance level adopted was 5% (p<0.05). To control for possible confounding variables, multivariate Poisson Regression analysis was used to assess factors independently associated with social anxiety. The criterion for entering the variable in the model was that it had a p-value <0.20 in the bivariate analysis. The standard for remaining in the final model was that it had a p-value <0.10. The effect measure used was the Prevalence Ratio (PR) and the 95% confidence interval. c) NLR, SII, PLR, and MLR values There are several studies of typical values for NLR, such as that of Forget [15], in the Belgian adult, non-geriatric population with good health status (between 0.78 and 3.53); Iranian population (NLR 1.70±0.70, MLR 11.15±3.14 and PLR 117.05±47.73, respectively[12]); Chinese (NLR 18-65 years old female =0.85-3.06 and male = 0.90-2.94, PLR 61-179, MLR female (0.10-0.32) and male (0.12-0.35) and IIS (161- 761)[16]; IIS had a cut-off value of 679.96 (Adali etal. [36]) in research in Turkey. Cut-off points for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the external auditory canal with and without preoperative recurrence and those considered ideal were 3.75 × 109/L for neutrophil count, 1.77 × 109/L for lymphocyte count, 2.325 for NLR, 157.9 for PLR, and 3.065 for LMR[34]. Szor[35] studied the Brazilian population, with the cut-off value for NLR was 2.44; Eyff et al.[36] also studied Brazilian adults, with cut-off points for NLR and PLR of 2.80 and 362, respectively. For the present study, we used the following cut-off points: 2.80 for NLR, 761 for SII, 0.35 for MLR, and 362 for PLR. IV. R esults a) Sample Specifics As shown in the flowchart in Figure 1, 140 patients were screened and 45 patients were excluded, 15 of these because the electronic medical records did not show a diagnosis of schizophrenia, 06 because they were in the telemedicine care modality, and 24 because they did not accept to participate in the research. We interviewed 95 patients and excluded 13 patients, 10 of them because they presented other diagnoses (schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, autism, acute psychotic disorder, psychosis due to cognitive disease, organic personality disorder) and 03 patients because of missing information and did not answer all the scales. As a result, the sample ended up comprising 82 patients, 61 of whom (74.4%) were men and 21 (25.6%) women. The mean age was 47.3 years, and the most frequent schooling was complete high school (47.6%), followed by entire elementary school (32.9%). As for the clinical characteristics, the mean ages of onset and duration of schizophrenia were 21.9 years and 25.4 years, respectively. The median number of psychiatric hospitalizations was two. The frequency of patients with comorbidities was 79.3%, and the main comorbidities found in these patients were obesity (28%), dyslipidemia (17.1%), smoking (15.9%), and diabetes (14.6%). Most patients were being treated with Clozapine (96.3%) and 31.7% were using other antipsychotics. The other most used drugs were Clonazepam (37.8%) and Amitriptyline (12.2%). There were no significant differences in all variables between the groups with SA and without SA (p>0.050). b) Social anxiety in schizophrenia In the present investigation, of the 82 patients meeting the inclusion criteria, 59 patients (72%) had AS comorbidity, with scores higher from 32 in the LSAS, 12.2% being at a mild level of AS, 29.3% moderate, and 30.5% severe. To complement the study, generalized anxiety was calculated in these patients using the GAD-7 scale, in which 32.9% of patients were at a mild level, 26.8% moderate and 7.3% severe. On the BPRS scale, the classification of the groups was 8.5%, 31.7% and 54.9% in mild, moderate and severe scores, respectively. 37 Year 2023 Global Journal of Medical Research Volume XXIII Issue III Version I ( D ) A © 2023 Global Journals The Link between Social Anxiety and Peripheral Inflammatory Markers in Patients with Schizophrenia Diagnoses