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Schizophrenia in Surinamese and Dutch Antillean immigrants to The Netherlands: evidence of an increased incidence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 1997

J.-P. SELTEN ,
J. P. J. SLAETS  and
R. S. KAHN
J.-P. SELTEN
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital, Utrecht and Department of Geriatrics, Leyenburg Hospital, The Hague, The Netherlands
J. P. J. SLAETS
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital, Utrecht and Department of Geriatrics, Leyenburg Hospital, The Hague, The Netherlands
R. S. KAHN
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital, Utrecht and Department of Geriatrics, Leyenburg Hospital, The Hague, The Netherlands
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Abstract

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Background. Reports of an increased incidence of schizophrenia in Afro-Caribbean immigrants to the UK are a matter of much debate. It is of interest, therefore, that in the 1970s and 1980s many immigrants from Surinam and The Netherlands Antilles have settled in The Netherlands. The purpose of our study was to compare the risk of a first admission for schizophrenia for Surinamese- and Antillean-born persons aged 15–39 years to that for their Dutch-born peers in the period 1983–1992.

Methods. We used data from the Dutch psychiatric registry. Age-adjusted relative risks were calculated using Poisson regression analysis.

Results. The risk for the immigrants was found to be three to four times higher than that for the Dutch-born. Age-adjusted relative risks were significantly higher for male than for female immigrants.

Conclusions. The results provide evidence of an increased incidence in these immigrant groups and support similar findings on Afro-Caribbeans in the UK. Migration from Surinam was on such a large scale that selective migration of persons at risk for the disorder is unlikely to account entirely for these findings.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 27 , Issue 4 , July 1997 , pp. 807 - 811
Copyright
1997 Cambridge University Press