Risk of Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder can be Identified in Childhood

The risk of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder may be identifiable years before the illnesses manifest. Researchers found that 50% of those who developed these mental health issues had used specialized child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) as children. According to Professor Ian Kelleher, from the UCD School of Medicine, the findings point to the possibility of earlier intervention and even prevention (THL).

“Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder typically emerge in early adulthood and can have a devastating impact on the individuals affected, as well as on their families,” he said. “Our findings show that half of the individuals who develop these illnesses had come to CAMHS at some stage in childhood, typically many years before they developed schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Early intervention is key to improving outcomes for people with serious mental illness. These findings demonstrate the enormous opportunities to provide far earlier intervention, even in childhood, by developing specialist early intervention services within existing child and adolescent mental health services.”

Global Burden of Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder

About 65 million people worldwide suffer from mental diseases like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Both illnesses are frequently diagnosed in adulthood and are linked to significant levels of disability and individual and social costs. However, it is well established that early intervention improves outcomes for those who suffer from these conditions.

The researchers followed every person born in 1987 throughout childhood and adolescence to determine whether they ever attended CAMHS from birth to 17 years. They did this using Finland's top-ranked healthcare records.

The researchers were then able to track all these people up to the age of 28 and determine who went on to receive a diagnosis of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder by using distinctive patient identifiers.

They discovered that the likelihood of psychosis or bipolar illness by 28 years for people who had not seen CAMHS was 1.8%. However, the risk was 15% for those who had attended adolescent outpatient CAMHS. It was 37% for people admitted to an inpatient adolescent CAMHS hospital.

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“This research shows the power of electronic healthcare registers to answer important questions about human health and disease,” said Professor Mika Gissler, THL. “It demonstrates how healthcare register data can be used to better understand pathways to serious mental illness, from childhood into adulthood, and identify critical early intervention opportunities.”

“We know it is crucial to intervene as early as possible to prevent some of the worst effects of these illnesses. But ideally, we would like to be able to intervene even before the onset of illness, to prevent it altogether. These findings highlight the possibility of intervening far earlier than we do at present, even in childhood and adolescence, to prevent these serious mental illnesses from emerging,” said Professor Ian Kelleher.

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Source-Eurekalert