Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Schizophrenia is a complex syndrome with numerous risk factors, one of which is the season or month of birth. Therefore, the principal objective of this study was to test the relationship between summer birth and clinical features in schizophrenia. METHODOLOGY: Study design: We conducted a cross-sectional analytic study with retrospective data collection. Sample: Were included in this study all the patients having met the DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia during their first psychotic episode requiring hospital admission spanning from January,1, 2013 to December,31,2022. in the psychiatry department of Fattouma Bourguiba teaching Hospital Monastir, and who kept the same diagnosis of schizophrenia according to their medical files and the follow-ups. Variables and instruments: The recruitment was conducted through the patients’ medical files using a questionnaire including socio-demographic, clinical, and therapeutic characteristics, as well as the month of birth and season of birth for each patient. Data analysis: Data entry and analyses were carried out using the software package IBM SPSS Statistics 25.0. To look for an association between the qualitative variables, we used the chi-square test, and if needed, Fisher’s exact test. RESULTS: Our study included 333 patients with a mean age of 31.6 years. Several clinical features were associated with season of birth. Regarding types of schizophrenia, the paranoid type was significantly associated with the summer season of birth_(p=0.005)_. We also found a significant association between delusional themes like influence theme being significantly associated with the summer birth _(p=0.02)_. As for the mechanisms of delusion only intrapsychic hallucinations had an association with summer birth _(p=0.039)_. CONCLUSIONS: The season of birth is one of the most consistently identified risk factors in the epidemiology of schizophrenia, although the underlying causes remain unclear. This underscores the importance of additional research in this field to enhance our understanding of schizophrenia and explore potential preventive measures.
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