THE SEASON OF BIRTH OF SCHIZOPHRENICS AND SCHIZOAFFECTIVES

We examined the birth distribution of 2,450 schizophrenic and 682 schizoaffective patients first admitted between 1971 and 1992 to the University Hospital for Psychiatry in Vienna. Our data showed an excess of schizophrenic births in the first quarter of the year and a deficit in the third quarter compared with expectation from census data. The quarterly distribution of schizophrenic births seemed to be different from the one of the schizoaffective patients. In schizoaffectives an excess of births in the first quarter of the year was present, but no other deviation from expectation.