Differences between schizophrenics born in winter and summer

Abstract

A total of 1814 patients were studied from the Mississippi State Hospital with a DSM-III diagnosis of schizophrenia and aged 15-39 years at the time of admission. The 634 schizophrenics with a birth date between 1 December and 31 March were compared with the 1180 born between 1 April and 30 November for age of admission, race, sex, marital status, duration of initial admission and clinical subtype. The only significant difference between the variables was the duration of the first admission: winter-born patients had a shorter psychiatric hospitalization than summer-born schizophrenics. These findings are discussed in accord with similar studies.

Season of birth, gender and negative symptoms in schizophrenia

“…In contrast, Watson et al [39] found winter birth excesses only among schizophrenics who had never married, a group that is thought to be more likely to have severe, process schizophrenia with poor premorbid history. Other studies [16,30,31] found no relationship between season of birth and a variety of clinical variables including age of onset, marital status, total duration of hospitalization, and number of readmissions.…”

“…Data on clinical subtype are inconsistent as well. Three different studies [16,30,37] compared the birth seasons of paranoid and non-paranoid schizophrenics and found no significant differences between these two subtypes. In a much smaller study, Opler and Kay [26] found that all patients with positive syndrome schizophrenia (as defined by the PANSS) were born in nonwinter months, whereas equal numbers of negative syndrome patients were born in winter and non-winter months.…”

The association between season of birth, age at onset, and clozapine use in schizophrenia

“…Although the relationship between season of birth, a variety of clinical variables including age of schizophrenia onset, marital status, total duration of hospitalization, and number of hospital admissions and prognosis has not yet been established, season of birth does appear to contribute to not only in the development but also the course of the disease for patients with schizophrenia.…”

Prognosis of schizophrenia spectrum disorder may not be predetermined during early development – the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966

“…Later achievement of learning to stand or walk and becoming potty-trained were not associated with poorer outcome at 35 years (Jääskeläinen et al, 2008). Only pre-natal exposure to environmental adversities increased the risk of re-hospitalization (Levine et al, 2014) and patients born in winter have had shorter periods of psychiatric hospitalization during first admission (Rodrigo et al, 1991). Comparative studies on developmental and environmental predictors of outcomes in schizophrenia and individuals without schizophrenia, are also lacking.…”