Sr. Bredkjaer et al., EPILEPSY AND NONORGANIC NONAFFECTIVE PSYCHOSIS - NATIONAL EPIDEMIOLOGIC-STUDY, British Journal of Psychiatry, 172, 1998, pp. 235-238
Background This study tests the hypothesis that epilepsy increases the
risk of developing schizophrenia and other non-affective functional p
sychoses using a nationwide sample of people with epilepsy Method A re
cord linkage study between a sample from the National Patient Register
, consisting of 67 116 people with epilepsy, and the Danish Psychiatri
c Register identified all people with non-affective psychoses with ons
et after the first epilepsy diagnosis. The relation between risk of ps
ychiatric disorder in people with epilepsy and the general Danish popu
lation was estimated. Results The incidences of the spectrum of non-or
ganic non-affective psychosis, non-affective psychosis and schizophren
ia were significantly increased both for men and women, even after exc
lusion of people diagnosed as suffering from a learning disability or
substance misuse. Conclusion This study supports the notion of an asso
ciation between epilepsy and the risk of subsequent non-affective psyc
hosis.