African–Caribbeans and schizophrenia: contributing factors

Abstract

The epidemiology and management of schizophrenia have been well studied over the past few decades. In the UK, key findings that have emerged time and again are the excess prevalence and incidence rates of schizophrenia among people of African–Caribbean origin. The reasons for this excess and the implications of this finding are many. The findings may reflect a true excess or a methodological artefact related to errors in the estimation of numerator and denominator data. The findings have been increasingly accepted as better designed studies have emerged, but these still do not fully address concerns about the nature of schizophrenia in other cultural groups and in societies in which industrialisation and economic productivity of the individual are not considered to be as crucial for an individual's sense of belonging in a community.