Abstract
Background: People born in densely populated areas have a higher risk of developing schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and autism. Aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether urban-rural differences in place of birth influence a broad range of mental disorders.
Method: Population-based cohort study of everyone born in Denmark between 1955 and 2006 (n = 2 894 640). Main outcome measures were incidence rate ratios for five levels of urbanisation and summary estimates contrasting birth in the capital with birth in rural areas.
Results: For all psychiatric disorders, except intellectual disability (ICD-10 'mental retardation') and behavioural and emotional disorders with onset in childhood, people born in the capital had a higher incidence than people born in rural areas.
Conclusions: Birth in an urban environment is associated with an increased risk for mental illness in general and for a broad range of specific psychiatric disorders. Given this new evidence that urban-rural differences in incidence are not confined to the well-studied psychotic disorders, further work is needed to identify the underlying aetiopathogenic mechanisms.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 435-440 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | British Journal of Psychiatry |
| Volume | 208 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - May 2016 |