Obstetric complications in schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and normal comparison subjects

Previous studies have indicated that obstetric complications (OCs) may be risk factors for schizophrenia, but findings are inconsistent, and data about other diagnostic groups are relatively scarce. We compared the obstetric histories of subjects with schizophrenia, major affective disorder and normal controls. Our subjects included 61 schizophrenia, 26 schizoaffective, 28 major affective disorder patients and 21 normal controls. OCs were rated on the McNeil–Sjöström Scale using data from mothers reports and for a subsample from hospital and birth certificate records. The frequency of OCs did not differ statistically between diagnostic groups at any stage or for the three stages combined. OCs of at least level 4 were found in 69% of schizophrenia patients, 62% of schizoaffective patients, 68% of major affective disorder patients and 71% of the normal comparison group. OCs of at least level 5 were found in 23% of schizophrenia patients, 23% of schizoaffective patients, 21% of the major affective disorder patients and 14% of the normal comparison group. Our findings indicate that the etiologic significance of OCs may not be specific to schizophrenia.