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Schizophrenia and violent crime: a population-based study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2014

A. Fleischman ,
N. Werbeloff ,
R. Yoffe ,
M. Davidson  and
M. Weiser
A. Fleischman
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel Department of Psychiatry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv, Israel
N. Werbeloff
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel
R. Yoffe
Affiliation:
Division of Mental Health Services, Ministry of Health, Jerusalem, Israel
M. Davidson
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel Department of Psychiatry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv, Israel
M. Weiser*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel Department of Psychiatry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv, Israel
*
*Address for correspondence: Prof. M. Weiser, Department of Psychiatry, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel. (Email: mweiser@netvision.net.il)
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Abstract

Background

Previous studies have found that patients with schizophrenia are more likely to be violent than the general population. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between schizophrenia and violent crime in the Israeli population.

Method

Using the Israeli Psychiatric Hospitalization Case Registry we identified 3187 patients with a discharge diagnosis of schizophrenia. For each proband we identified parents and siblings, and gender- and age-matched controls for patients, parents and siblings. Information on violent crimes was obtained from police records.

Results

Patients with schizophrenia were at increased risk for violent crimes compared with controls [odds ratio (OR) 4.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.8–4.9], especially women (OR 9.9, 95% CI 6.2–15.7). Risk for violent crimes was higher among patients with co-morbid substance misuse than in patients without such co-morbidity (OR 5.1, 95% CI 4.2–6.3).

Conclusions

The results of this study suggest that increased risk of violence is part of the clinical picture of schizophrenia and needs to be recognized as a legitimate, essential, aspect of clinical management.

Keywords

Population-basedschizophreniasubstance misuseviolence
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 44 , Issue 14 , October 2014 , pp. 3051 - 3057
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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