Age at onset of schizophrenia: Gender differences and influence of temporal socioeconomic change

This study was undertaken to examine whether males develop schizophrenia at a younger age than females, and whether temporal socioeconomic change affe cts the age at onset of schizophrenia. The subjects were 848 ICD-9 schizoph renics who were admitted to Nihon University Hospital, Tokyo, Japan, during the period of 1955-64 (n = 468 (214 males and 254 females), group A) or du ring the period of 1982-91 (n = 380 (220 males and 160 females), group B). Schizophrenic males showed an earlier age at onset than schizophrenic femal es. However, the mean age at onset of schizophrenia did not differ signific antly between group A and group B. These results indicate that the gender d ifference in age at onset of schizophrenia has not been influenced by tempo ral socioeconomic change.