Related Experiment Videos
Paternal age and risk for schizophrenia
Stanley Zammit1, Peter Allebeck, Christina Dalman
1Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff, UK. zammits@cardiff.ac.uk
The British Journal of Psychiatry : the Journal of Mental Science
|November 5, 2003
Summary
Paternal age is linked to schizophrenia risk. Each decade increase in father's age raises schizophrenia risk by 30%, independent of personality traits, suggesting genetic factors.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Genetics
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Paternal age is a known risk factor for schizophrenia.
- This association may be due to genetic mutations or confounding personality traits.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the link between paternal age and schizophrenia risk.
- To control for personality traits associated with social integration.
Main Methods:
- A cohort of 50,087 adolescent males was studied.
- Hospital admissions for schizophrenia were tracked via record linkage from 1970-1996.
Main Results:
- Advancing paternal age showed a dose-dependent increase in schizophrenia risk.
- Each 10-year increase in paternal age raised risk by 30% (OR=1.3).
Conclusions:
- Advancing paternal age is an independent risk factor for schizophrenia.
- The association persisted after adjusting for social integration, supporting the germ cell mutation hypothesis.