Diagnostic specificity and predictors of neurological soft signs in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other psychoses over the first 4 years of illness.

Background: Neurological soft signs (NSS) are well described among patients with schizophrenia, the neurology of other psychoses is relatively unexplored and few comparative studies have prospectively examined these signs in first-episode patients.

Methods: We assessed neurological functioning in 242 patients presenting with a first episode of psychosis (in accordance with DSM-IV diagnosis) using the Condensed Neurological Examination (CNE). We sought to determine whether NSS were specific to patients with schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder and other forms of psychosis.