Health service registry data in psychiatric epidemiology: challenges for definition and interpretation: an editorial comment to: Okkels et al.'s 'changes in the diagnosed incidence of early onset schizophrenia over four decades' (1).

摘要

In the current issue o￡ Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavian, Okkels and colleagues (1) estimate ^ the incidence of early onset schizophrenia in Denmark using a mental health research registry based on administrative data from psychiatric services. The database covers in-patient services from 1969 to 1994, and both in-patient and out-patient services from 1995 to 2010. Based on these data, the investigators conclude that the incidence of early onset schizophrenia has increased across, these time periods, but that the proportion of schizophrenia cases among all diagnosed mental health cases has declined. Their findings also suggest that the sex differential has narrowed over time, and that the age at first diagnosis has decreased (1).