Soft Neurological Signs in Patients with Chronic Psychiatric Illness in a Rehabilitation Center: A Cross-sectional Study

Background: Numerous neurological soft signs (NSS), which act as a measure of illness severity, are frequently experienced by the susceptible group of people with chronic mental illnesses.An individual's social functioning may be greatly impacted by NSS, with subsequent long-term effects on their mental health and well-being.However, nothing is known about how common NSS are in the Indian context.Materials and methods: In a rehabilitation facility, 95 randomly chosen participants aged between 18 and 60 participated in a cross-sectional study.Using the neurological evaluation scale (NES), NSS were evaluated.Results: The frequency of neurological soft symptoms did not change by gender (p = 0.916), age (p = 0.304), or literacy (p = 0.067), duration of treatment (p = 0.187), marital status (p = 0.134), age of onset of illness (p = 0.685).However, the NSS scores did differ significantly (p = 0.045) according to the length of the illness in one component of the NES scale. Conclusion:The results were different from those of earlier research in other populations, which found lower prevalence rates for NSS.The study stresses the need for more research to completely understand the complex interactions between NSS and chronic mental illnesses, and also the effects of many environmental factors on their comorbidity.