The incidence of operationally defined schizophrenia in Camberwell, 1965-84.

We established first-contact rates of schizophrenia in the defined area of Camberwell between 1965 and 1984. The rate of schizophrenia, whether defined by ICD, RDC, or DSM-III criteria, rose over the period under study. This finding is at odds with reports of an overall decline in first-admission rates for schizophrenia in England, over the same period. The discrepancy was largely accounted for by the influx into Camberwell of individuals of Afro-Caribbean origin, who showed rates of schizophrenia between four and eight times that of their Caucasian counterparts.