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Lack of gender differences in familial schizophrenia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

Bernadette M Murphy ,
John G Burke ,
Joseph C Bray ,
Dermot Walsh  and
Kenneth S Kendler
Bernadette M Murphy
Affiliation:
UMDS Division of Psychiatry, Guys Hospital, London Bridge, London SE1 9RT, England
John G Burke
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Leicester Royal Infirmary, PO Box 65, Leicester LE2 7LH, England
Joseph C Bray
Affiliation:
Queen Margaret Hospital, Dumfermline, KY12 OSU, Scotland
Dermot Walsh
Affiliation:
The Health Research Board, Dublin 2, Ireland
Kenneth S Kendler
Affiliation:
Medical College of Virginia, PO Box 980126, Richmond, VA 23298, USA
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Abstract

Objective: Gender appears to have a significant impact on the prevalence, age at onset, symptoms and outcome of schizophrenia. This study examines gender effects in a population of familial schizophrenic patients in Ireland.

Method: Families with two or more siblings suffering from schizophrenia, as defined by DSM-III-R were ascertained in Ireland. The final sample comprised 169 siblings from 80 families. Siblings were interviewed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID), the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) and the Strauss-Carpenter Levels of Functioning Scale. The difference between males and females for various clinical features were calculated.

Result: There was a marked excess of affected males (65% male and 35% female). When the excess of male subjects was taken into account there was no significant excess of same-sex as compared to opposite-sex pairs. There were no significant difference between males and females for age at onset, age at first admission, symptoms or level of outcome.

Conclusion: The excess of males and the lack of gender differences for clinical features found in this study may, in part, be due to the narrow diagnostic criteria used. Alternatively, at least some of these findings may be specific to this Irish sample. Further research is a need to see if these findings can be replicated in other countries.

Keywords

SchizophreniaFamilialGenderSexAgeSymptomsOutcomeFactor analysis
Type
Original Papers
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 14 , Issue 4 , December 1997 , pp. 128 - 131
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

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