Onset of acute psychotic states in India: a study of sociodemographic, seasonal and biological factors

Abstract

This is a comparative study of patients with acute-onset, non-affective, non-organic, remitting psychoses and with non-remitting or schizophrenic psychoses in India. Two groups of patients with acute remitting and non-remitting or schizophrenic psychoses were compared with regard to the following variables: month of onset of psychosis; presence of stress, particularly fever, within 4 weeks preceding the onset of psychosis; childbirth within 12 weeks preceding the onset of psychosis; gender differences. It was found that the acute remitting psychoses showed an overrepresentation of females, a higher frequency of associated stress preceding the onset of psychosis, more often had onset during the summer months, i.e. between May and September, and had fever and childbirth preceding the onset of psychosis in a significantly higher proportion of patients, compared to acute non-remitting psychoses or schizophrenia. The implications of the findings which point towards biological factors in the aetiology of acute remitting psychoses are discussed.