a Third Department of Psychiatry , School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki , Thessaloniki , Greece.
b Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy , Semmelweis University , Budapest , Hungary.
Int J Psychiatry Clin Pract. 2018 Sep;22(3):170-176. doi: 10.1080/13651501.2017.1391292. Epub 2017 Oct 25.
Advanced parental age might constitute a generic risk factor for mental and somatic disorders. The current study tested whether this concerns also patients with schizophrenia.
A total of 231 schizophrenic, 56 other severe mental disorders patients and 204 controls were diagnosed according to DSM-IV-TR. Data were tested with ANOVA models including relative risk and odds ratios.
Patients with schizophrenia manifested higher paternal (32.55 ± 6.35 vs. 29.42 ± 6.07, p < .001) and maternal age (27.66 ± 5.57 vs. 25.46 ± 4.52, p < .001). Patients with other mental disorders had higher paternal (33.29 ± 8.35; p = .001) but not maternal age (26.69 ± 5.89; p = .296) compared to controls. There was no difference between the two patient groups concerning either paternal or maternal age (p > .05). There seems to be a higher risk for the development of schizophrenia in offspring with paternal age above 25 years and maternal age above 22 years at delivery.
The current study provides further support for the suggestion that advanced paternal age constitutes a risk factor (in a non-dose dependent and gender-independent way) for the development of schizophrenia but also for other mental disorders. In contrast, advanced maternal age characterises schizophrenia specifically. The higher risk is evident after 25 years of paternal and 22 years of maternal age, respectively.
高龄父母可能构成精神和躯体障碍的一般危险因素。本研究旨在测试这是否也适用于精神分裂症患者。
根据 DSM-IV-TR 标准，共纳入 231 例精神分裂症患者、56 例其他严重精神障碍患者和 204 例对照。采用方差分析模型检验数据，包括相对风险和优势比。
精神分裂症患者的父亲年龄（32.55±6.35 岁比 29.42±6.07 岁，p<0.001）和母亲年龄（27.66±5.57 岁比 25.46±4.52 岁，p<0.001）均较高。其他精神障碍患者的父亲年龄（33.29±8.35 岁；p=0.001）较高，但母亲年龄（26.69±5.89 岁；p=0.296）与对照组无差异。两组患者的父亲或母亲年龄均无差异（p>0.05）。父亲年龄超过 25 岁和母亲年龄超过 22 岁时，后代患精神分裂症的风险似乎更高。
本研究进一步支持高龄父亲（以非剂量依赖和性别独立的方式）构成精神分裂症发展风险因素的观点，也支持其他精神障碍的观点。相比之下，高龄母亲则明确地导致精神分裂症。风险分别在父亲年龄超过 25 岁和母亲年龄超过 22 岁时显现。
