This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Kenneth S. Kendler, MD

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1986;43(7):643-649.

Abstract
• This report examines mortality rates in the National Academy of Sciences—National Research Council Twin Registry for twins with recorded diagnoses of schizophrenia or neurosis. The standardized mortality ratio for schizophrenia was 1.77 and resulted from elevations in both traumatic and diseaserelated deaths. In neurosis, the standardized mortality ratio was 1.30 and was due nearly entirely to elevated rates of disease-related deaths. The pattern of mortality in monozygotic and dizygotic pairs discordant for schizophrenia and neurosis was consistent with the following hypotheses: (1) mortality in both disorders cannot be due to the disease state per se; (2) disease-related mortality in schizophrenia results largely from environmental factors shared by twin pairs; and (3) mortality from trauma in schizophrenia and from diseases in neurosis results largely from genetic factors. These findings must be interpreted in the context of the limitations of the registry, which include lack of standardization and incomplete ascertainment of psychiatric disorders. A review of a subsample of records indicates that schizophrenia in the registry is broadly defined and differs considerably from the narrow DSM-III concept of the disorder.

Author Affiliations
From the Departments of Psychiatry and Human Genetics, Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond.

Footnotes
Accepted for publication June 14, 1985.

Reprint requests to Department of Psychiatry, Medical College of Virginia, PO Box 710, Richmond, VA 23298 (Dr Kendler).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

A Systematic Review of Mortality in Schizophrenia: Is the Differential Mortality Gap Worsening Over Time?
Saha et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2007;64:1123-1131.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Toxicity and Carcinogenicity Studies of Chlorpromazine Hydrochloride and p-Cresidine in the p53 Heterozygous Mouse Model
Petruska et al.
Toxicol Pathol 2002;30:696-704.
ABSTRACT  

A continuum of premature death. Meta-analysis of competing mortality in the psychosocially vulnerable
Neeleman
Int J Epidemiol 2001;30:154-162.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Causes of the excess mortality of schizophrenia
BROWN et al.
Br. J. Psychiatry 2000;177:212-217.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Suicide and Mortality Patterns in Anxiety Neurosis and Depressive Neurosis
Allgulander
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1994;51:708-712.
ABSTRACT  

The Roscommon Family Study: I. Methods, Diagnosis of Probands, and Risk of Schizophrenia in Relatives
Kendler et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1993;50:527-540.
ABSTRACT  

Suicide in Twins
Roy et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1991;48:29-32.
ABSTRACT  

Age at Onset in Schizophrenia: A Familial Perspective
Kendler et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1987;44:881-890.
ABSTRACT