TY - JOUR
T1 - Incidence of adult onset schizophrenic disorders in the US Military
T2 - Patterns by sex, race and age
AU - Cowan, David N.
AU - Weber, Natalya S.
AU - Fisher, Jared A.
AU - Bedno, Sheryl A.
AU - Niebuhr, David W.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Stanley Medical Research Institute, Bethesda, Maryland , and the United States Department of the Army . The study sponsors had no further role in study design, in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the paper for publication.
PY - 2011/4
Y1 - 2011/4
N2 - Background: There are limited data describing the epidemiology of adult-onset schizophrenic disorders in the United States. Although the military is not proportionately comparable in all demographic characteristics to the civilian population, it is drawn from all racial/ethnic subgroups, and members range in age from 17 to > 60 years. We describe the incidence of hospitalization for new onset schizophrenic disorders among military members by sex, race, and age. Methods: Using military inpatient data, we evaluated patterns of initial hospitalizations for schizophrenic disorders among military personnel for 2000-2009, focusing on sex, race, and age. No individual-level data were available. Results: From 2000-2009, 1976 military personnel had a first schizophrenic disorder hospitalization, with an overall incidence rate of 0.14/1000 person-years. There were no consistent changes in rates over time. While overall incidence rates were similar for men and women (incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 1.10), rates were higher among men than women below age 25; after 25-30 rates were higher among women. Incidence was higher among blacks and other racial groups, with IRR = 2.0 and 1.3, respectively. Conclusion: Medical screening of military applicants prevents persons with overt or a reported history of psychosis, and most with serious behavior problems, from enlisting; therefore, first hospitalization is likely to reflect new illness. No pre-military socioeconomic data were available, however, essentially all study subjects were high school graduates; unmeasured differences in socioeconomic status were unlikely to explain the observed results. This report may provide lower bound estimates of the schizophrenic disorder incidence in the United States.
AB - Background: There are limited data describing the epidemiology of adult-onset schizophrenic disorders in the United States. Although the military is not proportionately comparable in all demographic characteristics to the civilian population, it is drawn from all racial/ethnic subgroups, and members range in age from 17 to > 60 years. We describe the incidence of hospitalization for new onset schizophrenic disorders among military members by sex, race, and age. Methods: Using military inpatient data, we evaluated patterns of initial hospitalizations for schizophrenic disorders among military personnel for 2000-2009, focusing on sex, race, and age. No individual-level data were available. Results: From 2000-2009, 1976 military personnel had a first schizophrenic disorder hospitalization, with an overall incidence rate of 0.14/1000 person-years. There were no consistent changes in rates over time. While overall incidence rates were similar for men and women (incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 1.10), rates were higher among men than women below age 25; after 25-30 rates were higher among women. Incidence was higher among blacks and other racial groups, with IRR = 2.0 and 1.3, respectively. Conclusion: Medical screening of military applicants prevents persons with overt or a reported history of psychosis, and most with serious behavior problems, from enlisting; therefore, first hospitalization is likely to reflect new illness. No pre-military socioeconomic data were available, however, essentially all study subjects were high school graduates; unmeasured differences in socioeconomic status were unlikely to explain the observed results. This report may provide lower bound estimates of the schizophrenic disorder incidence in the United States.
KW - Adult onset
KW - Incidence
KW - Military
KW - Schizophrenic disorders
KW - United States
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79952317547&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.schres.2010.12.005
DO - 10.1016/j.schres.2010.12.005
M3 - Article
C2 - 21227655
AN - SCOPUS:79952317547
SN - 0920-9964
VL - 127
SP - 235
EP - 240
JO - Schizophrenia Research
JF - Schizophrenia Research
IS - 1-3
ER -