The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 267 No 7179 p873-877
22-29 December 2001

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People in low social classes delay seeking treatment for schizophrenia

People with schizophrenia born into lower socio-economic classes tend to present later than those from higher classes, new research has shown. Fiona Mulvany, Cluain Mhuire Family Centre, Blackrock, Co Dublin, and colleagues suggest that this delay in seeking treatment could explain the relationship between low social class and poor outcome of the disease.

The researchers used 352 matched pairs of birth registration records to examine whether low social class influenced the risk of schizophrenia but found no link between social class at birth and risk of schizophrenia. However, they found more than an eight-year difference in age at first presentation to psychiatric services between the lowest and highest social classes.

The researchers attribute this difference to the differing use of social services across social classes and the fact that people from higher social classes might be better informed about schizophrenia. They say that it is unlikely that schizophrenia has a different age of onset across the social classes or that general practitioners are selectively referring patients (BMJ 2001;323:1398).

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