The incidence of mania: time trends in relation to gender and ethnicity

Abstract

In order to investigate conflicting reports about possible changes in the incidence of mania, we established first contact rates for mania in the defined area of Camberwell between 1965 and 1984. There was some evidence for an increase in the first contact rate of mania, especially in females. This rise may be associated with the influx into Camberwell of individuals of Afro-Caribbean origin who showed significantly higher rates than the white group [adjusted rate ratio 3.1; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.4-6.9] and more often displayed mixed manic and schizophrenic symptomatology (risk ratio 2.2; 95% CI 1.1-4.3). We conclude that the incidence of mania has not decreased and may actually have increased. High rates of mental illness among members of ethnic minorities are not specific to schizophrenia, suggesting that a risk factor common to both manic and schizophrenic illness is more prevalent among these groups.

Heritability Estimates for Psychotic Disorders

“…With respect to RDC diagnoses, the case register for Camberwell, the local catchment area of the Maudsley Hospital, has been used to ascertain first-contact patients between 1965 and 1984 with nonaffective psychoses, mania, or hypomania. 25,26 Two twins (0.45%) from our present sample were among the 445 individuals from Camberwell who received an RDC diagnosis of psychosis. This was within the confidence interval (CI) for the estimate of 1.15% (95% CI, 0.16-2.14) same-sex twins with a co-twin surviving to 15 years of age (calculated from Maudsley Twin Register data).…”

Environmental Factors in Schizophrenia: The Role of Migrant Studies

“…A middle syndrome between this and schizophrenia (schizomania) has also been reported as more common. 20 Furthermore, Selten and colleagues 14 demonstrated an increase in all psychotic disorders in Caribbean migrants to the Netherlands. Selten and colleagues 21 also examined the admission rates for both first-episode bipolar disorder of manic and depressed types in migrant groups in the Netherlands and found only small increases in the admission rates for manic illness in Surinamese, but not Turkish, migrants.…”

Differences in Prevalence and Treatment of Bipolar Disorder among Immigrants: Results from an Epidemiologic Survey

“…Epidemiologic studies have suggested a disparity in rates of mania among specific ethnic groups, [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] but immigrant status has generally not been examined in these analyses. The limited clinical data that are available on the effect of immigrant status on presence of BD has yielded inconclusive results, with one report of manic subjects being significantly more likely to be foreign-born than subjects with schizophrenia in a small sample of inpatients from McLean Hospital.…”