We examined whether children destined to develop schizophrenia in adulthood
could be distinguished from their peers on elementary school performance.
We used a case-control study design nested within a population-based birth
cohort of all individuals born in Helsinki, Finland between 1951 and 1960.
Case ascertainment was from three health-care registers, and elementary sch
ool records were obtained for 400 children who were diagnosed as suffering
from schizophrenia in adulthood and 408 controls. We found that children wh
o developed schizophrenia in adulthood performed significantly worse than c
ontrols on subjects involving motor co-ordination (sports and handcrafts),
between ages 7 and 9. There were no differences between the groups on acade
mic subjects, but cases were significantly more likely to have been referre
d to a school psychologist. This study indicates that motor co-ordination d
eficits are a risk factor for adult schizophrenia, and are most evident in
early and middle childhood. Contrary to previous work, we did not find evid
ence of cognitive impairment: preceding schizophrenia, but psychological di
fficulties are present from an early age in children who later develop the
disorder. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Suns, Ltd.