Social class at birth may affect outcome in schizophrenia

Patients born into a low social class are not at increased risk of developing schizophrenia, but they present for treatment at a later age than those born into higher social classes. In their case control study in South Dublin, Mulvany and colleagues (p 1398) found that there was a slight excess risk of schizophrenia in people in the highest social classes at birth, but their mean age of presentation was 24.8 years compared with 33.1 years for those in lower social classes. Delay in treatment of psychosis may explain the adverse outcome among people in low social classes, so attempts to tackle earlier detection should be focused on people in lower social classes.

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Relevant Article

Effect of social class at birth on risk and presentation of schizophrenia: case-control study

Fiona Mulvany, Eadbhard O'Callaghan, Noriyoshi Takei, Majella Byrne, Paul Fearon, and Conall Larkin
BMJ 2001 323: 1398-1401. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]