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Gender differences and clinical correlates in the age of the first hospitalization in patients with drug-naïve schizophrenia in China: a cross-sectional study

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Abstract

Gender differences in the onset age of schizophrenia have been reported in many studies, but differences in the age of the first hospitalization and associated factors have not been explored. The present study investigated gender differences and clinical correlates in the age of the first hospitalization in drug-naïve schizophrenia (DNS). A total of 144 DNS patients and 67 health controls were included. Demographic information, duration of untreated psychosis (DUP), Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS) scores, the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) scores, Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scores, and MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) scores were collected and analyzed. The age of the first hospitalization was significantly earlier in males than in females (P < 0.01). In addition, there were significant differences in the age of the first hospitalization in terms of marital status, occupation, family ranking, suicide attempt, and place of residence (all P < 0.05). After Bonferroni correction, only DUP had a positive correlation with the age of the first hospitalization (PBonferroni < 0.05/6 = 0.0083). Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that gender (β = 0.141, t = 2.434, P = 0.016), marital status (β = 0.219, t = 3.463, P = 0.001), family ranking (β = 0.300, t = 4.918, P < 0.001), suicide attempt (β = 0.348, t = 5.549, P < 0.001), and DUP (β = 0.190, t = 2.969, P < 0.004) positively predicted the age of the first hospitalization. The age of the first hospitalization in male DNS was earlier than in females. In addition, gender, marital status, suicide attempt, DUP, and family rank were independent risk factors for the age of the first hospitalization.

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The data supporting the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgements

We extend our gratitude to Yongping Zhao, Shu Yang, Ying Gao, Siying Kong, and Xiaoxiao Sun from the Tianjin Anding Hospital for their assistance in data collection.

Funding

This study was supported by the Tianjin Key Project for Chronic Diseases Prevention (2017ZXMFSY00070) from the Tianjin Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, the Tianjin Key Medical Discipline (Specialty) Construction Project (TJYXZDXK-033A), and a hospital-level project from the Tianjin Anding Hospital (ADYKHT2021012). These funding sources had no involvement in the study design, data collection, statistical analysis, manuscript drafting, or paper submission for publication.

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  1. Guoshuai Luo, Meijuan Li and Yuying Qiu contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Biological Psychiatry, Institute of Mental Health, Tianjin Anding Hospital, Mental Health Center of Tianjin Medical University, 13 Liulin Road, Tianjin, 300222, China

    Guoshuai Luo, Meijuan Li, Yuying Qiu, Cong Yao & Jie Li

  2. Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 16 Lincui Road, Beijing, 100101, China

    Xiangyang Zhang

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  1. Guoshuai Luo
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Luo, G., Li, M., Qiu, Y. et al. Gender differences and clinical correlates in the age of the first hospitalization in patients with drug-naïve schizophrenia in China: a cross-sectional study. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-023-01697-5

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