Season of birth and schizophrenia in Northeast Brazil: relationship to rainfall

J Nerv Ment Dis. 2006 Nov;194(11):870-3. doi: 10.1097/01.nmd.0000243762.63694.e6.

Abstract

Although the association of schizophrenia and winter birth has been replicated many times in the Northern hemisphere, studies in the Southern hemisphere have been less consistent in their findings. A study from NE Brazil indicated the period between May and July, 3 months after the peak in rainfall, as a risk period for schizophrenia birth. We report findings from a random selection of charts (N = 1789) from the only public inpatient psychiatric facility in Ceará, Brazil (2 degrees to 5 degrees S). We compared the seasonality of birth in the schizophrenia group (N = 406) to multiple control groups: (1) psychosis not otherwise specified (N = 868), (2) other psychiatric diagnoses (N = 515), and (3) the average monthly birth rate in the general population. Patients with schizophrenia had a significantly greater risk of being born in the risk period compared with any of the control groups. There is a significant association between rainfall in a month and schizophrenia births 3 (p = 0.03) and 4 months (p = 0.01) later. This study corroborates findings of a significant seasonality in schizophrenia births in northeast Brazil.

MeSH terms

  • Birth Rate
  • Brazil / epidemiology
  • Climate
  • Humans
  • Rain*
  • Schizophrenia / epidemiology*
  • Seasons*