Factors Which Influence the Internal Body Water Level of Schizophrenics and Characteristics of Internal Body Water Distribution of Patients with Polydipsia

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to examine factors which influence the internal body water level from a perspective of the internal body water level and to examine a factor of polydipsia. The internal body water level was measured for 58 schizophrenic patients hospitalized at a mental hospital. Then comparisons were made between 35 patients with polydipsia (polydipsia group) and 23 non-polydipsia patients (non-polydipsia group), using the bio-impedance method (BI method). Analysis was made for the factors which were considered to influence the data and level of internal body water: plasma osmotic pressure, urine specific gravity, age, pathological history, antipsychotic drug dosage, anticholinergic drug dosage, sense of thirst, amount of smoking, presence of polydipsia and water intoxication episodes. Results indicated that there was no one that showed an increase in the plasma osmotic pressure among the polydipsia group and there were those who showed polydipsia even though they showed a decrease in the plasma osmotic pressure. A multi-linear regression analysis of the other factors showed that %ICF and %TBF were related to water intoxication episodes and that those with the episodes tended to show a high %ICF and %TBF.