Systematic review and meta-analysis: Season of birth and schizophrenia risk

Winter birth has been hypothesized to be associated with increased schizophrenia risk for nearly a century. Major hypotheses regarding the potential etiological risk factors for schizophrenia such as vitamin D deficiency and virus exposure in utero are predicated based on the observation that risk o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Schizophrenia research 2023-02, Vol.252, p.244-252
Main Authors: Coury, Samantha M., Lombroso, Adam, Avila-Quintero, Victor J., Taylor, Jerome H., Flores, José M., Szejko, Natalia, Bloch, Michael H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Birth month
Child
Humans
Meta-analysis
Risk Factors
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia - etiology
Season of birth
Seasonality
Seasons
Systematic review
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Summary:Winter birth has been hypothesized to be associated with increased schizophrenia risk for nearly a century. Major hypotheses regarding the potential etiological risk factors for schizophrenia such as vitamin D deficiency and virus exposure in utero are predicated based on the observation that risk of schizophrenia is higher in children born in winter months. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the association between season and month of birth and risk of schizophrenia. We further investigated this relationship stratified by hemisphere. Forty-three studies spanning 30 countries and territories and 440,039 individuals with schizophrenia were included in this meta-analysis. Winter births were associated with a small but statistically significant increased risk of schizophrenia (OR 1.05, 95 % CI 1.03–1.07, p 
ISSN:0920-9964
1573-2509
1573-2509
DOI:10.1016/j.schres.2022.12.016