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Clinical laboratory test standards for a sample of schizophrenics

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Abstract

The normal ranges for 15 clinical laboratory tests for a pooled sample of 325 schizophrenics, largely chronic and hospitalized, are presented. Laboratory data came from pretreatment blood samples of subjects who were all participants in clinical psychotropic drug trials conducted through the Early Clinical Drug Evaluation Unit (ECDEU) Program of the National Institute of Mental Health. Both parametric means and ranges (mean ± 2 standard deviations) and nonparametric medians and percentile ranges (2.5 and 97.5 percentiles) are reported. The results generally confirm the finding of increased variability in schizophrenic laboratory test data noted in the past. This, and implications of the method are discussed.

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Detailed information about the assay methods used at each laboratory is available from the authors.

Occasionally the 10th and 90th percentile are utilized. However, the 2.5 and 97.5 percentile limits include 95% of the sample, which is comparable to the percent of sample included in the parametric range defined at ± 2 S.D.

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McGlashan, T.H., Cleary, P.A. Clinical laboratory test standards for a sample of schizophrenics. Psychopharmacologia 44, 281–285 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00428907

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