Long-Term Outcome of Leucotomy On Behaviour of People With Schizophrenia

Edward Helmes and Varadaraj R. Velamoor
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Edward Helmes: Department of Psychology, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia, edward.helmes@jcu.edu.au
Varadaraj R. Velamoor: Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada

International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 2009, vol. 55, issue 1, 64-70

Abstract: Background: Prefrontal leucotomy was widely used from the late 1930s to early 1950s as a treatment for disorders involving obsessive agitation. Comparatively few studies of the enduring behavioural effects of such surgery exist, while data on mortality and cognition have been better reported. Aims: We contrast the psychosocial functioning of older individuals with schizophrenia who had undergone prefrontal leucotomy with two groups of their peers who had not undergone such surgery. Method: A total of 87 individuals (one female) with a mean age of 70.3 years ( SD = 6.84) were evaluated twice 25 months apart using a standardized rating scale. Twenty of the residents, all with schizophrenia, had undergone prefrontal leucotomy approximately 45 years previously. All diagnoses of schizophrenia were confirmed by multiple psychiatrists using DSM-III criteria at the time of the ratings, which were completed by two care staff who knew the residents well. Results: Repeated measures comparisons with schizophrenia and non-schizophrenia patient groups showed no significant differences between the leucotomy and unoperated comparison groups on four of the five Multidimensional Observation Scale for Elderly Subjects (MOSES) scales. Conclusions: These results are consistent with reports of compromised function among individuals who had undergone leucotomy and contrast with some reports of positive changes in behaviour.

Keywords: lobotomy; leucotomy; psychosurgery; chronic schizophrenia; rating scale (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:55:y:2009:i:1:p:64-70

DOI: 10.1177/0020764008091681

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