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Increased rate of psychosis among African–Caribbeans in Britain is not due to an excess of pregnancy and birth complications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2018

G. Hutchinson ,
N. Takei ,
D. Bhugra ,
T. A. Fahy ,
C. Gilvarry ,
R. Mallett ,
P. Moran ,
J. Leff  and
R. M. Murray
G. Hutchinson
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine and the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry and King's College School of Medicine
N. Takei
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine and the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry and King's College School of Medicine
D. Bhugra
Affiliation:
Department of Social Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry
T. A. Fahy
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine and the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry and Kings College School of Medicine
C. Gilvarry
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine and the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry and Kings College School of Medicine
R. Mallett
Affiliation:
Department of Social Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry
P. Moran
Affiliation:
Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, Camberwell SE5 8AZ
J. Leff
Affiliation:
Department of Social Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry
R. M. Murray*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine and the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry and King's College School of Medicine
*
Professor R. M. Murray, Department of Psychological Medicine and the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry and King's College School of Medicine, De Crespigny Park. Denmark Hill. London SE5 8AF
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Abstract

Background

It has been suggested that the increased rate of psychotic illness among African–Caribbeans living in Britain is due to an excess of pregnancy and birth complications (PBCs).

Method

We therefore compared the frequency of PBCs in a group of White psychotic patients (n=103) and a comparable group of patients of African–Caribbean origin (n=61); the latter consisted of 30 first-generation (born in the Caribbean) and 31 second-generation (born in Britain) individuals.

Results

White psychotic patients were more than twice as likely to have a history of PBCs as their African–Caribbean counterparts (odds ratio=2.34, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.88–6.47, P=0.062). The same trend was observed among patients with a DSM–III diagnosis of schizophrenia (odds ratio=l.65, 95% CI 0.56–4.97, P=0.32). The rate of PBCs was similar among the first- and second-generation Caribbean psychotic patients.

Conclusions

The increased rate of psychotic illness that has been reported among the African–Caribbean population in Britain is not due to an increased prevalence of PBCs.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 171 , Issue 2 , August 1997 , pp. 145 - 147
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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