Schizophrenia in Greenland: a follow‐up study

• Published in: Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica
• Main Authors: Lynge, I., Jacobsen, J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1995
• Subjects: Greenland; greenlander*
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0447.1995.tb09802.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1600-0447.1995.tb09802.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1600-0447.1995.tb09802.x

A total of 289 Greenlanders admitted for the first time to a mental hospital from 1980 to 1983, were followed for 7 years. Thirty‐seven patients, 24 men and 13 women, were diagnosed with schizophrenia at least once during the follow‐up period. The annual first admission rate per 100,000 was 41 for men and 23 for women. The schizophrenics were compared with a group of non‐schizophrenics at the same age admitted in the same period. The main results were young age at first admittance, high male‐female ratio and poor clinical and social outcome. The results were compared with WHO's cross‐cultural studies. Young age and a high male‐female ratio are in accordance with the developing countries, whereas poor outcome is in accordance with the industrialized countries.