Incidence of schizophrenia among second-generation immigrants in the jerusalem perinatal cohort.
OBJECTIVE
Increased incidence of schizophrenia is observed among some immigrant groups in Europe, with the offspring of immigrants, ie "second-generation" immigrants particularly vulnerable. Few contemporary studies have evaluated the risk of schizophrenia among second-generation immigrants in other parts of the world.


METHODS
We studied the incidence of schizophrenia in relation to parental immigrant status in a population-based cohort of 88 829 offspring born in Jerusalem in 1964-1976. Parental countries of birth were obtained from birth certificates and grouped together as (1) Israel, (2) Other West Asia, (3) North Africa, and (4) Europe and industrialized countries. Cox proportional hazards methods were used in adjusting for sex, parents' ages, maternal education, social class, and birth order.


RESULTS
Linkage with Israel's Psychiatric Registry identified 637 people admitted to psychiatric care facilities with schizophrenia-related diagnoses, before 1998. Incidence of schizophrenia was not increased among second-generation immigrants in this birth cohort, neither overall nor by specific group.


CONCLUSIONS
The difference in risk of schizophrenia among second-generation immigrants in Europe and in this Israeli birth cohort suggests that the nature of the immigration experience may be relevant to risk, including reasons for migration, the nature of entry, and subsequent position in the host country for immigrants and their offspring. Minority status may be of importance as, in later studies, immigrants to Israel from Ethiopia had increased risk of schizophrenia.
Corcoran
Cheryl
C
New York State Psychiatric Institute, Unit 2, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10032, USA. cc788@columbia.edu
Perrin
Mary
M
Harlap
Susan
S
Deutsch
Lisa
L
Fennig
Shmuel
S
Manor
Orly
O
Nahon
Daniella
D
Kimhy
David
D
Malaspina
Dolores
D
Susser
Ezra
E
D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007557:Israel; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012042:Registries; D012306:Risk; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors