Family History of Psychiatric Disorders and age at First Contact in Schizophrenia: an Epidemiological Study

The risk for schizophrenia associated with a range of psychiatric diagnoses in family members was estimated. The relationship between these risks & age at first contact for schizophrenia was investigated. A nested case-control study design was employed. Data was available for 7704 cases admitted between 1981-1998 in Denmark. Controlling for socioeconomic factors, risk for schizophrenia was associated with a family history of all psychiatric disorders except substance misuse & independently with a family history of suicide. The risk for schizophrenia associated with familial psychiatric disorders decreased as age at first contact increased. (31 refs.)