Reference no: EM132220760

Question: Poster Title: Epidemiology of Schizophrenia: Systematic Review of Literature and Mythologies

Author Information: Darlene Foster, Ashford University

Abstract: An understanding of the prevalence of schizophrenia offers important implications for the health planning and risk factor epidemiology. Through defining the patterns of the disorder's distribution in populations, knowing risk factors, and establishing relationships, this review would add to the current understanding of the disease. Even though many of the earlier intervention approaches has gained significant recognition, the primary prevention of the disease still appears to be a distant ambition. This review looks at the major epidemiological studies about the disease. Thus, the review of the available studies, and evidence, demonstrates that schizophrenia does no distribute itself equally across nations and cultures, and that the condition is more prevalent among the males.

Objectives: The major objective of this review includes:

- To systematically identify as well as compared studies that describe the rates and prevalence of schizophrenia disorder.

- To present and summarize the findings from these studies, and to explore the selected factors, which might especially work to influence the disorder's prevalence estimates.

Method and Materials: This review particularly conforms to the guidelines presented in the Meta-Analysis of

Observational Studies within the Epidemiology (MOOSE) recommendations (Stroup et al., 2000). The method for this review is also identical to that of previous review studies on the prevalence and incidence of Schizophrenia, including the study by McGrath et al (2004). Broad (including free texts), search strings (such as [schizo*or psych*] [incident or prevalence]) were used in sites such as PsychInfo, Embrace, Medline, and other established medical sites. Most of the relevant papers, in English language, were accessed in efforts to review their full texts.

The review included studies which reported primary data on the incidence and prevalence of the disease, first published between 1960 through 2015. Studies that reported incidence or prevalence data on forensic and penitentiaries were not included in this review. Also excluded were genetic epidemiological sources. A total of 100 core studies were identified.

Results: The reviewed evidence demonstrates that schizophrenia does no distribute itself equally across nations and cultures, and that the condition is more prevalent among the males. Similarly, the prevalence of the disease is lower in developing countries compared to developed ones. Furthermore, the median incidence or prevalence estimations for the emerging nations remain numerically higher compared to industrialized nations.

Conclusions: The condition is a very serious one and significant contributor to the world's burden of disease.

There are many available data on the prevalence and incidence of the disorder. Besides, the prevalence of the disease is more on males than females. Equally important too, the prevalence and incidence of the disorder is more pronounced in developed nations compared to the developing countries.

Implications: The incidence and prevalence of the disease varies significantly across the sexes. Moreover, the incidence/prevalence of this disease would help to inform research, contributing to the aetiology of schizophrenia. However, since males have higher lifetime risks of schizophrenia, there is need for proactive actions and measures.