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Epilepsy and non-organic non-affective psychosis

National epidemiologic study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Søren Bredkjær ,
Pre Ben Bo Mort Ensen  and
Josef Parnas
Søren Bredkjær*
Affiliation:
University Department of Psychiatry, Hvidovre Hospital, Denmark
Pre Ben Bo Mort Ensen
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatric Demography, Aarhus, Denmark
Josef Parnas
Affiliation:
Institute of Preventive Medicine, Kommunehospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
*
S. Bredkjær MD, Sankt Hans Hospital. DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark, e-mail: srb@danbbs.dk
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Abstract

Background

This study tests the hypothesis that epilepsy increases the risk of developing schizophrenia and other non-affective functional psychoses using a nationwide sample of people with epilepsy.

Method

A record linkage study between a sample from the National Patient Register, consisting of 67 116 people with epilepsy, and the Danish Psychiatric Register identified all people with non-affective psychoses with onset after the first epilepsy diagnosis. The relation between risk of psychiatric disorder in people with epilepsy and the general Danish population was estimated.

Results

The incidences of the spectrum of non-organic non-affective psychosis, non-affective psychosis and schizophrenia were significantly increased both for men and women, even after exclusion of people diagnosed as suffering from a learning disability or substance misuse.

Conclusion

This study supports the notion of an association between epilepsy and the risk of subsequent non-affective psychosis.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 172 , Issue 3 , March 1998 , pp. 235 - 238
Copyright
Copyright © 1998 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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