Objectives:
The purpose of the study was to examine whether individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia differ in personal hygiene (PH) from controls and to assess the importance of gender, clinical characteristics, and body self (body experience and body image) for PH.

Methods:
Eighty-two subjects with a diagnosis of schizophrenia in stable mental state and 82 control subjects were studied. All subjects completed the Personal Hygiene Scale (PHS), the Body Self Questionnaire, and answered the questions in Cenestopathy Interview. To confirm the validity of patients’ replies, PHS was also completed by medical staff.

Results:
Subjective assessment of PH correlated with ratings made by medical personnel. The patient group subjects rated their PH worse than controls. Men rated their PH worse than women. In the case of male patients, hygienic deficits were associated with numerous disturbances in body experience (cenestopathy, disturbances in interpreting and regulating body states, and disturbances in body identity) while in the case of women with schizophrenia they were related only to difficulties in interpreting and regulating body states and negative symptoms.

Conclusions:
Individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia in a stable mental state manifest deficits in personal hygiene that are related not so much to negative body image as to a disturbed body experience. The determinants of hygiene deficits in schizophrenia are gender-dependent. The study did not include individuals with severe illness, which helps to understand the lack of correlation between negative symptoms of schizophrenia and PH in the male study group.