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Fluctuations in Schizophrenic Births by Year

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

E. Fuller Torrey  and
Robert R. Rawlings
E. Fuller Torrey*
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health, Neuroscience Center at St Elizabeths, Washington, DC 20032
Robert R. Rawlings
Affiliation:
National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
*
Dr E Fuller Torrey, Dept. Of Health & Human Services, NIMH Neuropsychiatric Research Hospital, 2700 Martin Luther King Jr Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20032, USA
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Abstract

Background

It has previously been reported that births of individuals who later develop schizophrenia vary by birth year.

Method

Birth data were analysed on 34 024 individuals diagnosed with DSM–III–R disorganised, catatonic, and undifferentiated schizophrenia using time series analysis.

Results

Minor yearly fluctuations were observed but did not achieve statistical significance. Thus earlier findings reported in the literature could not be replicated using a different statistical approach.

Conclusion

The findings do not support theories which assume major yearly fluctuations in the births of individuals with schizophrenia. Such theories include the perinatal effects of influenza, temperature variation, and the effects of severe weather.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 169 , Issue 6 , December 1996 , pp. 772 - 775
Copyright
Copyright © 1996 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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