The British Journal of Psychiatry 148: 310-316 (1986)
© 1986 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Mortality and facial dyskinesia
HA McClelland, D Dutta, A Metcalfe and TA Kerr
In 1965 a psychiatric in-patient population was surveyed for the prevalence
of facial dyskinesia. The present investigation reports on their survival
time. Among male and female patients with functional disorders (mostly
schizophrenia) there was a strong association between moderate or severe
facial dyskinesia and shortened survival, but no clinical factors were
found to explain this. Mild facial dyskinesia in functional disorders was
not associated with reduced life expectancy and may be attributable to the
general effects of ageing rather than to a specific pathological process.
Among patients with primary organic brain syndromes, dyskinesia was not
associated with reduced life expectancy.