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Risk Factors in Schizophrenia: Season of Birth in Maryland, USA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Ann E. Pulver ,
Walter Stewart ,
William T. Carpenter Jr.  and
Barton Childs
Ann E. Pulver*
Affiliation:
University of Maryland School of Medicine, Maryland Psychiatric Research Centre P.O. Box 3235, Baltimore, Maryland 21228, USA and Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Walter Stewart
Affiliation:
University of Maryland School of Medicine, Maryland Psychiatric Research Center and Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University, School of Hygiene and Public Health
William T. Carpenter Jr.
Affiliation:
University of Maryland School of Medicine and Maryland Psychiatric Research Center
Barton Childs
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
*
∗Correspondence.
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Summary

The association between the risk for schizophrenia and season of birth was studied using a standard actuarial life table method. This method of analysis eliminates the possibility of the previously described statistical artifacts from the data. An increased risk for schizophrenia for winter born individuals was demonstrated. The analyses also supported the hypothesis that season of birth is associated with an increased risk for a subtype of schizophrenia.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 143 , Issue 4 , October 1983 , pp. 389 - 396
Copyright
Copyright © 1983 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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