Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-m8qmq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-16T09:27:59.469Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Season of Birth in the General Population and in Patients with Mental Disorder in Norway

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Ørnulv Ødegård*
Affiliation:
Gaustad Sykekus, Gaustad, Oslo, Norway

Extract

It has been shown by Knobloch and Pasamanick that a disproportionate number of oligophrenics are born during the first months of the year. This appears to be true mainly in warmer climates and is supposed to be related to nutritional problems which arise when the most sensitive weeks of pregnancy coincide with the unpleasantly warm summer months. Such findings have led to a revival of the interest in the monthly birth distribution of schizophrenics. There is some evidence that this pattern actually differs from that of the general population, and para-natal complications could be the explanation.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1974 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barry, Herb. & Barry, Herb. Jr. (1964) Season of birth in schizophrenia. Arch. gen. Psychiat., 11, 385391.Google Scholar
Hare, E. H. & Price, J. S. (1968) Mental disorder and season of birth. Brit. J. Psychiat., 115, 533–40.Google Scholar
Hare, E. H. & Slater, E. (1972) Schizophrenia and season of birth. Brit. J. Psychiat., 120, 124–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
James, W. H. (1971) Schizophrenia and season of birth. Brit. J. Psychiat., 119, 229–30.Google Scholar
Knobloch, H. & Pasamanigk, B. (1958) Seasonal variations in the births of the mentally deficient. Amer. J. publ. Health, 48, 1201.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lander, E., Forsmann, H. & Åkeson, H. O. (1964) Season of birth and mental deficiency. Acta genet., 14, 265–80.Google Scholar
Mednick, S. A. (1970) Breakdown in individuals at high risk for schizophrenia: possible predispositional perinatal factors. Ment. Hyg., 54, 5063.Google Scholar
Pasamanick, B., Dinitz, S. & Knobloch, H. (1959) Geographic and seasonal variations in births. U.S. Publ. Hlth. Rep., 74, 285–88.Google Scholar
Samaroff, A. J. & Zak, M. (1972) Neonatal factors in serious mental disorder. Neurosciences Res. Prog. Bull., 10, 423–5.Google Scholar
Central Bureau of Statistics of Norway (1965) Marriages, Births and Migrations in Norway 1856–1960. Oslo.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.