title: Obstetric complications and severity of illness in schizophrenia.
abstract: A history of obstetric complications (OCs) is common in schizophrenia and may lead to a severe form of the disorder. In order to test this possibility, three questions were identified: (1) Is a history of OCs in schizophrenia common in patients with a severe form of illness? (2) Do patients with OCs have more impaired function, greater severity of illness, and poorer treatment outcome than those with no identified OCs? (3) Are OCs associated with an early age at onset of illness? Obstetric history, clinical indices of functioning, and illness severity were obtained for 83 severely ill patients with schizophrenia. The proportion of patients with a history of OCs was greater in this study than has been reported previously. Subjects with a history of OCs had better functioning than those with no OCs at the time of admission but no group differences were found at discharge. No difference in age at onset of illness was found between patients with and without an OC history.
authors.affiliation: Refractory Psychosis Program, Riverview Hospital, Port Coquitlam, B.C., Canada.
authors.forename: G N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: W G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Honer
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kopala
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: MacEwan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Altman
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D002746:Chlorpromazine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003024:Clozapine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007744:Obstetric Labor Complications / Q000209:etiology*; D010359:Patient Readmission; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000209:etiology*; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012307:Risk Factors; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000145:classification / Q000209:etiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology
chemical_list: D003024:Clozapine; D002746:Chlorpromazine