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The British Journal of Psychiatry (2006) 188: 519-526. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.105.012179
© 2006 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

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Self-reported psychotic symptoms in the general population

Results from the longitudinal study of the British National Psychiatric Morbidity Survey

NICOLA J. WILES, PhD

Academic Unit of Psychiatry, Department of Community Based Medicine, University of Bristol

STANLEY ZAMMIT, PhD

Division of Psychological Medicine, Cardiff University

PAUL BEBBINGTON, PhD

Department of Mental Health Sciences, Royal Free and University College Medical School, University College London

NICOLA SINGLETON, MSc

Drugs and Alcohol Research Programme, Research Development & Statistics Directorate, Home Office, London

HOWARD MELTZER, PhD

Office for National Statistics, London

GLYN LEWIS, PhD

Academic Unit of Psychiatry, Department of Community Based Medicine, University of Bristol, UK

Correspondence: Dr Nicola J. Wiles, Academic Unit of Psychiatry, Department of Community Based Medicine, University of Bristol, The Grange, 1 Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1AU, UK. Tel: +44 (0)117 954 6676; fax: +(0)117 331 0964; e-mail: nicola.wiles{at}bristol.ac.uk

Declaration of interest None.

Funding detailed in Acknowledgements.

Background Scarce longitudinal data exist on the occurrence of psychotic symptoms in the general population.

Aims To estimate the incidence of, and risk factors for, self-reported psychotic symptoms in Great Britain.

Method Data from the 18-month follow-up of a national survey were used. Incident cases were those who endorsed one or more items on the Psychosis Screening Questionnaire at follow-up, but not at baseline. The association between factors recorded at baseline and incident self-reported symptoms was examined.

Results At follow-up, 4.4% of the general population reported incident psychotic symptoms. Six factors were independently associated with incident symptoms: living in a rural area; having a small primary support group; more adverse life events; smoking tobacco; neurotic symptoms; and engaging in a harmful pattern of drinking.

Conclusions A small but not insignificant percentage of the population of Great Britain reported incident psychotic symptoms over 18 months. The risk factors for psychotic symptoms showed some similarities with risk factors for schizophrenia, but there were also some striking differences. The relationship between such risk factors and the factors that perpetuate psychotic symptoms remains to be ascertained.

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