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Persistence of the Decline in the Diagnosis of Schizophrenia Among First Admissions to Scottish Hospitals from 1969 to 1988

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

John R. Geddes ,
Roger J. Black ,
Lawrence J. Whalley  and
John M. Eagles
John R. Geddes*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Place, Edinburgh EH10 5HF
Roger J. Black
Affiliation:
National Health Service in Scotland, Information and Statistics Division, Trinity Park House, Edinburgh EH5 3SQ
Lawrence J. Whalley
Affiliation:
Medical School, University of Aberdeen, Forresterhill, Aberdeen AB9
John M. Eagles
Affiliation:
Ross Clinic, Cornhill Rd, Aberdeen AB9 2ZF
*
∗Correspondence
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Abstract

Age-standardised rates were calculated for first admissions to hospital in Scotland with ICD-9 diagnoses of schizophrenia, affective psychoses, paranoid psychoses, reactive psychoses and depressive neuroses (ICD-9 295, 296, 297, 298 and 300.4) for the period 1969–88. First-admission rates for schizophrenia declined by an average of 3.3% per year in males and 4.4% per year in females over the period. The first-admission rate in males in 1988 was 8.4/100 000 (57% of 1969 rate) and in females was 4.8/100 000 (43% of 1969 rate). Rates for depressive neuroses, affective psychoses, reactive psychoses and combined psychoses also fell. Rates for mania rose, as did those for paranoid states in males. The decrease in first-admission rates is likely to reflect a true decrease in the incidence of schizophrenia over the period. The decline was unlikely to be accounted for by diagnostic change because there was no reciprocal increase in any other diagnosis sufficient to account for the change, and the rates for combined psychoses also decreased. There was evidence that rates for schizophrenia declined to a greater extent in younger age groups, especially in females. This could imply the presence of a birth cohort effect.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 163 , Issue 5 , November 1993 , pp. 620 - 626
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1993 

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