Document Detail


Season of birth and schizophrenia in Northeast Brazil: relationship to rainfall.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  17102713     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Although the association of schizophrenia and winter birth has been replicated many times in the Northern hemisphere, studies in the Southern hemisphere have been less consistent in their findings. A study from NE Brazil indicated the period between May and July, 3 months after the peak in rainfall, as a risk period for schizophrenia birth. We report findings from a random selection of charts (N = 1789) from the only public inpatient psychiatric facility in Ceará, Brazil (2 degrees to 5 degrees S). We compared the seasonality of birth in the schizophrenia group (N = 406) to multiple control groups: (1) psychosis not otherwise specified (N = 868), (2) other psychiatric diagnoses (N = 515), and (3) the average monthly birth rate in the general population. Patients with schizophrenia had a significantly greater risk of being born in the risk period compared with any of the control groups. There is a significant association between rainfall in a month and schizophrenia births 3 (p = 0.03) and 4 months (p = 0.01) later. This study corroborates findings of a significant seasonality in schizophrenia births in northeast Brazil.
Authors:
Erick Messias; Carine Mourao; Juliana Maia; Joao Paulo Mendes Campos; Kersia Ribeiro; Luciana Ribeiro; Brian Kirkpatrick
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  The Journal of nervous and mental disease     Volume:  194     ISSN:  0022-3018     ISO Abbreviation:  J. Nerv. Ment. Dis.     Publication Date:  2006 Nov 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2006-11-14     Completed Date:  2006-12-11     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  0375402     Medline TA:  J Nerv Ment Dis     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  870-3     Citation Subset:  AIM; IM    
Affiliation:
School of Medicine, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza CE, Brazil. emessias@jhsph.edu
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Birth Rate
Brazil / epidemiology
Climate
Humans
Rain*
Schizophrenia / epidemiology*
Seasons*

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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