There is consistent evidence that incidence rates of psychotic disorders vary in different geographical areas. The variation of the distribution of a disease can give clues to the role played by different risk factors. In Italy there are only a few epidemiological studies on psychosis. In this thesis I aimed to contribute by a) widening Italian epidemiological research on the incidence of psychoses and b) investigating the role of some of the putative risk factors associated with this group of disorders. Results in this thesis are presented in two parts. The first part reports incidence rates of psychoses in Palermo. I collected data on 204 first episode psychosis patients, presenting to the mental health services, over a period of 3 years in a well-defined catchment area of Palermo, Italy. I carried out an incidence study and I calculated crude and adjusted incidence rates of affective and non-affective psychoses. I compared the Palermo incidence data I acquired with the existing UK data from the AESOP study. My findings were consistent with the literature indicating that there is an increased risk for all psychotic disorders in males and in migrants. Incidence rates of all psychoses in Palermo were lower than in UK except for schizophrenia and the most striking difference was in the likelihood to develop affective psychoses which was significantly greater in UK. The second chapter of results describes the prevalence of some putative risk factors associated with the development of psychotic disorders, such as cannabis and other illicit drug consumption, family history of psychiatric disorders and psychosis, childhood traumatic experiences, adult adverse life events. I carried out a case control study on a subsample of 68 first episode psychotic patients and a sample of 74 healthy controls representative of the local population. Family history for psychiatric disorders was more common among patients than controls; cannabis consumption was higher among cases at the time of assessment. Patients were more likely than healthy controls to have started to smoke cannabis before 15 years of age, and to report a higher frequency of use. Some experiences (having been injured or assaulted, having experienced having been expelled from school, running away from home, having been forced into authority care) and physical and sexual abuse in childhood were more common among cases than in controls.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:679750 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Mulé, Alice |
| Contributors | Murray, Robin MacGregor |
| Publisher | King's College London (University of London) |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/a-comparisaon-of-the-incidence-and-characteristics-of-psychosis-in-palermo-and-south-london(588a6ca4-439e-46b6-b4ca-e3844673d639).html |
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