The British Journal of Psychiatry (2007) 191: 512-520. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.106.034694
© 2007 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
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Growth trajectory during early life and risk of adult schizophrenia

Megan A. Perrin, MPH

Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, New York

Henian Chen, MD, PhD

Departments of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York

David E. Sandberg, PhD

Division of Child Behavioral Health, Department of Pediatrics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Dolores Malaspina, MD, MSciPH

Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York

Alan S. Brown, MD

Joseph Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, and Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, USA

Correspondence: Megan A. Perrin, The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, 140 Old Orangeburg Road, Orangeburg, New York 10962, USA. Tel: +1 845 398 6547; fax: +1 845 398 6545; email: mperrin{at}nki.rfmh.org

Declaration of interest None.

Funding detailed in Acknowledgements.

Background Growth abnormalities have been suggested as a precursor to schizophrenia, but previous studies have not assessed growth patterns using repeated measures.

Aims To assess the association between early life/later childhood growth patterns and risk of schizophrenia.

Methods Using prospectively collected data from a birth cohort (born 1959–1967), measurements of height, weight and body mass index (BMI) were analysed to compare growth patterns during early life and later childhood between 70 individuals with schizophrenia-spectrum disorder (SSD) and 7710 without.

Results For women, growth in the SSD group was approximately 1 cm/year slower during early life (P < 0.01); no association was observed for men. Later childhood growth was not associated with SSD. Weight patterns were not associated with SSD, whereas slower change in BMI was observed among the SSD group during later childhood.

Conclusions The association between slower growth in early life and schizophrenia in women suggests that factors responsible for regulating growth might be important in the pathogenesis of the disorder.


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