Fever and acute brief psychosis in urban and rural settings in north India.
BACKGROUND
This case-control study used data from Chandigarh, North India to investigate the association between antecedent fever and acute brief psychosis.


OBJECTIVE
To assess whether antecedent fever may be a biological correlate of acute brief psychosis, and contribute to the nosology of acute brief psychosis.


METHODS
The study was based in an incidence cohort from two catchment areas, an urban and a rural site, that were part of the World Health Organization Determinants of Outcome study. The cases (n = 17) met criteria for acute brief psychosis; controls (n = 40) were patients with other acute and subacute psychoses. The Life Events Schedule was used to determine the presence of antecedent fever.


RESULTS
The crude odds ratio for fever as a risk factor for acute brief psychosis was 6.2 (P = 0.004). The odds ratio in a logistic regression analysis--adjusted for site, gender and CATEGO classification--was 11.2 (P = 0.003).


CONCLUSIONS
Antecedent fever may be a biological correlate of acute brief psychosis. This finding supports the validity of this entity, and has implications for its aetiology and diagnosis.
Collins
P Y
PY
Department of Pyschiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, New York, USA.
Varma
V K
VK
Wig
N N
NN
Mojtabai
R
R
Day
R
R
Susser
E
E
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012423:Rural Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data