Objectives: There is a 5%-10% excess of births in winter and spring among the patients with schizophrenia born in the northern hemisphere. However, in patients with the deficit syndrome of schizophrenia, there is a slight over-representation of births in summer. In this study, we aimed at verifying whether the same patterns are found in patients with schizophrenia born in the Brazilian South and Southeast regions. Methods: Seventy-six patients with schizophrenia were assessed for demographics and psychopathology and also categorized for the presence of deficit syndrome. Patients with deficit and non-deficit schizophrenia were compared for the season of birth. In addition, we compared psychopathological variables between patients born in all four seasons. Results: There was no significant difference in the distribution of births according to the seasons. Although two thirds of the patients with deficit syndrome were born in the summer and autumn, this over-representation did not reach statistical significance. We found no differences regarding psychopathology between patients born in all four seasons. Conclusion: In the South and Southeast regions of Brazil, there was no significant excess of births in the summer between schizophrenic patients with deficit syndrome, neither was an excess of births in winter and spring in the overall sample of patients with schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia; seasons; psychopathology; epidemiology
