Abstract
Most evidence on seasonal admission patterns for schizophrenia derives from the Northern Hemisphere with results from the Southern Hemisphere less documented. This study examines seasonal patterns in hospital admissions due to schizophrenia in Queensland, Australia, a large area that has a range of different climatic features. Daily hospital admissions data for people with the primary diagnosis of schizophrenia were collected from Queensland Health Department for the period from January 1996 to December 2015. A generalised linear regression model with Quasi-Poisson distribution was used to assess seasonal admission patterns across different climatic regions. The evidence for seasonality was also explored in subgroups that had different socio-demographic characteristics or history of prior hospitalisation for psychiatric disorders. Overall, a significant winter pattern (RR 1.05, 95%CI 1.01–1.13) was found with a peak in August (RR 1.08, 95%CI 1.03–1.17) in temperate Southeast Queensland. However, the hot humid North and Far North Queensland showed a peak in October (RR 1.10, 95%CI 1.02–1.22). Males (RR 1.11, 95%CI 1.07–1.14), people aged 40–59 years old (RR 1.10, 95%CI 1.05–1.15) and those who had never married (RR 1.09, 95%CI 1.06–1.12), were Australian by birth (RR 1.07, 95%CI 1.04–1.10) or were unemployed (RR 1.13, 95%CI 1.09–1.18) had significantly higher risk for hospital admissions, particularly during the winter months. The seasonal admission pattern for schizophrenia did not change significantly according to admission status and history of outpatient or community psychiatric treatment. The study found some evidence for seasonality of hospital admissions for schizophrenia that differed from northern tropical to southern temperate regions of Queensland.
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The datasets analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to restrictions on sharing schizophrenia admissions data obtained from Queensland Heath Department.
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This work is a part of a PhD project supported by Queensland University of Technology Higher Degree Research Program and the Australian Government Research Training Program scholarship.
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Shafkat Jahan conducted the statistical analysis and wrote the first and final draft of the manuscript. Darren Wraith contributed to the drafting and in the critical revision of the manuscript. Michael Dunne and Suchithra Naish also contributed to the critical revision of the manuscript. All authors contributed to and have approved the final manuscript.
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Jahan, S., Wraith, D., Dunne, M.P. et al. Assessing evidence for seasonality of hospital admissions for schizophrenia in Queensland, Australia: a time series observational study. Int J Biometeorol 65, 2025–2035 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-021-02160-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-021-02160-7