Schizophrenia epidemiology and demographics

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Vindhya BellamKonda, M.B.B.S [2] Irfan Dotani

Overview

The prevalence of schizophrenia is 300 to 700 per 100,000 (0.3%-0.7%) of the overall population.^[1]

It occurs 1.4 times more frequently in males than females and typically appears earlier in men[14]—the peak ages of onset are 25 years for males and 27 years for females.[174]
Onset in childhood is much rarer, as is onset in middle or old age.[175][176]

Despite the prior belief that schizophrenia occurs at similar rates worldwide, its frequency varies across the world, within countries, and at the local and neighborhood level.[5][177][178][179]
This variation has been estimated to be fivefold.[4]
It causes approximately one percent of worldwide disability adjusted life years and resulted in 20,000 deaths in 2010.[180]
The rate of schizophrenia varies up to threefold depending on how it is defined.[9][14]

In 2000, the World Health Organization found the percentage of people affected and the number of new cases that develop each year is roughly similar around the world, with age-standardized prevalence per 100,000 ranging from 343 in Africa to 544 in Japan and Oceania for men, and from 378 in Africa to 527 in Southeastern Europe for women.[181]
About 1.1% of adults have schizophrenia in the United States.

References

↑ Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders : DSM-5. Washington, D.C: American Psychiatric Association. 2013. ISBN 0890425558.

Overview