Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T05:18:31.520Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Seasonality of births in affective disorder in an Irish population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

M Clarke ,
F Keogh ,
PT Murphy ,
M Morris ,
C Larkin ,
D Walsh  and
E O’Callaghan
M Clarke
Affiliation:
Stanley Research Unit, Cluain Mhuire Family Centre, St John of God Adult Psychiatric Services, Newtownpark Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin
F Keogh
Affiliation:
The Health Research Board, 73 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2, Ireland
PT Murphy
Affiliation:
Stanley Research Unit, Cluain Mhuire Family Centre, St John of God Adult Psychiatric Services, Newtownpark Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin
M Morris
Affiliation:
Stanley Research Unit, Cluain Mhuire Family Centre, St John of God Adult Psychiatric Services, Newtownpark Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin
C Larkin
Affiliation:
Stanley Research Unit, Cluain Mhuire Family Centre, St John of God Adult Psychiatric Services, Newtownpark Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin
D Walsh
Affiliation:
The Health Research Board, 73 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2, Ireland
E O’Callaghan
Affiliation:
Stanley Research Unit, Cluain Mhuire Family Centre, St John of God Adult Psychiatric Services, Newtownpark Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin
Get access

Summary

Seasonal variation in the births of patients with schizophrenia is a consistently replicated epidemiological finding. Few studies have investigated this phenomenon among patients with a diagnosis of affective disorder. The majority of season of birth studies have employed the chi square test for statistical analysis, a method that has been subject to some criticism. Using a Kolgomorov-Smirnov type statistic, the quarterly birth distribution of 6,646 patients with an ICD 9/10 diagnosis of affective disorder were compared to the general population. Only the births of those individuals with unipolar forms of affective disorder (n = 4,393) differed significantly from the general population, with significant excesses and deficits in the second quarter and fourth quarter respectively. These results were not altered by application of the displacement test. © 1998 Elsevier, Paris

Keywords

unipolar affective disorderbipolar affective disorderseason of birthKolgomorov-Smirnov type statistic
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 13 , Issue 7 , November 1998 , pp. 353 - 358
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier, Paris 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adams, WKendell, REHare, EHMunk-Jørgensen, PEpidemicological evidence that maternal influenza contributes to the aetiology of schizophrenia. An analysis of Scottish, English, and Danish data Br J Psychiatry 1993 ; 163 : 522-34CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyd, JHPulver, AEStewart, WSeason of birth: schizophrenia and bipolar disorder Schizophr Bull 1986 ; 12 : 173-86CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bradbury, TNMiller, GASeason of birth in schizophrenia; a review of evidence, methodology and aetiology Psychol Bulletin 1985 ; 98 : 569-94CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, ASSusser, ESShang, PIncreaed risk of affective disorder in males after second trimester prenatal exposure to the Dutch Hunger Winter of 1944-1945 Br J Psychiutry 1995 ; 166 : 601-6CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, ASSusser, ESLin, SP et al. Affective disorders in Holland after prenatal exposure to the 1957 A2 influenza epidemic Biol Psychiatry 1995 ; 38 : 270-3CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cannon, MCotter, DCoffey, V et al. Prenatal exposure to 1957 influenza epidemic and adult schizophrenia: a follow up study Br J Psychiatry 1996 ; 168(3) : 368-71CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, WJYeh, LLChang, CJ et al. Month of birth and schizophrenia in Taiwan: effect of gender, family history and age at onset Schizophr Res 1996 ; 20(1-2) : 133-43CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crow, TJDone, DJPrenatal exposure to influenza does not cause schizophrenia Br J Psychiatry 1992 ; 161 : 390-3CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Done, DJJohnstone, ECFirth, CD et al. Complications of pregnancy and delivery in relation to psychosis in adult life: data from the British perinatal mortality survey sample Br Med Journal 1991 ; 302 : 1576-80CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Freedman, LThe use of a Kolgomorov-Smimov type statistic in testing hypotheses about seasonal variation J Epidemiol Communiry Health 1979 ; 33 : 223-8CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendell, REKemp, IWMaternal influenza in the aetiology of schizophrenia Arch Gen Psychiatry 1989 ; 46 : 878-82CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hare, EHManic-depressive psychosis and season of birth Acta Psychiatr Scand 1975a ; 521 : 69–79CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, MSAge incidence and schizophrenia; Part I. The season of birth controversy Schizophr Bulletin 1989 ; 15(1) : 59–73CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Machon, RAMednick, SASchulsinger, FThe interaction of seasonality, place of birth, genetic risk and subsequent schizophrenia in a high risk sample [published erratum appears in Br J Psychiatry 1987 Jul ; 151 : 1241 Br J Psychiatry 1983 ; 143 : 383-8Google Scholar
Machon, RAMednick, SAHuttunen, MOAdult major affective disorder after prenatal exposure to an influenza epidemic Arch Gen Psychiatry 1997 ; 54 : 322-8CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mednick, SAMachon, RAHuttunen, MOBonett, DAdult schizophrenia following prenatal exposure to an influenza epidemic Arch Gen Psychiatry 1988 ; 45 : 189-92CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O’Callaghan, ECotter, Dcolgan, KLarkin, CWalsh, DWaddington, JLConfinement of winter birth excess in schizophrenia to the urban-born and its gender specificity Br J Psychiatry 1995 ; 166 : 51-4CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Odegard, OSeason of birth in the general population and in patients with mental disorder in Norway Br J Psychiatry 1974 ; 125 : 397–405CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rose, VHewitt, DMilner, JSeasonal influences on the risk of cardiac malformation. Nature of the problem and some results from a study of 10,077 cases Int J Epidemiol 1972 ; 1(3) : 235CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reading, RRaybould, SJarvis, SDeprivation, low birth weight, and children’s height: a comparison between rural and urban areas Br Med Journal 1993 ; 307 : 1458-62CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Takei, NO’Callaghan, ESham, PCGlover, GMurray, RMDoes prenatal influenza divert susceptible females from later affective psychosis to schizophrenia? Am J Psychiatry 1993 ; 88(5) : 328-36Google Scholar
Takei, NSham PC, O’Callaghan, EGlover, GMurray, RMSchizophrenia: increased risk associated with winter and city birth - a case-control study in 12 regions within England and Wales J Epidemiol Community Health 1995 ; 49(1) : 106-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Takei, NMortensen, PBKlaening, U et al. Relationship between in utero exposure to influenza epidemics and risk of schizophrenia in Denmark Biol Psychiarry 1996 ; 40(9) : 817-24CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Torrey, EFMiller, JRawlings, RRYolken, RHSeason of birth in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: a review of the literature Schizophr Res 1997 ; 28(1) : 1–38CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Torrey, EFRawlings, RREnnis, JMMerrill, DDFlores, DSBirth seasonality in bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and stillbirths Schizophr Res 1996 ; 21 : 141-9CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van OS, JTakei, NNavarro-Mateu, F et al. Season and place of birth in a sample of 2,2361 patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia Eur Psychiatry 1996 ; 11 suppl 4 : 428-34Google Scholar
van OS, JJones, PLewis, G et al. Developmental precursors of affective illness in a general population birth cohort Arch Gen Psychiatry 1997 ; 54 : 625-31CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verdoux, HTakei, NCassou de Saint-Mathurin, RBourgeois, MAnalysis of the seasonal variation of schizophrenic births using a Kolgomorov-Smirnov type statistic Eur Psychiatry 1997; 12: 111-6CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Videbech, TWeeke, ADupont, AEndogenous psychoses and season of birth Acta Psychiatr and 1974 ; 50 : 202- 18CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Watson, CGKucala, TTilleskjor, C et al. Schizophrenia birth seasonality in relation to the incidence of infectious diseases and temperature extremes Arch Gen Psychiatry 1984 ; 41 : 85–90CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Watson, CCSchizophrenic birth seasonality and the age incidence artifact Schizophr Bulletin 1990 ; 16( 1) : 5–9CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weissman, MMBland, RCCanino, GJ et al. Cross national epidemiology of major depression and bipolar disorder JAMA 1996 ; 2764 : 293-9CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Health Organisation Mental Disorders: Glossary and Guide to their Classification in accordance with the Ninth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9) Geneva: WHO; 1978Google Scholar
World Health Organisation. The ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders: Clinical descriptions and diagnostic guidelines Geneva: WHO; 1992Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.