Table 6.
Birth Cohort Studies of Educational Performance as an Antecedent of Schizophrenia
| Birth Cohort Studies | Ages (y) | Components | Instruments/Analyses | Results |
| NCDS UK1958 | ||||
| Crow et al42 | 7 | Reading, English, number work, and book use | Teacher assessment | Teachers rated pre-sz reading ability as well as English, number work, and book use as poor. |
| NFBC_1966 Finland | ||||
| Isohanni et al52a | 14 | Class level (normal, age appropriate vs below age level/special school) | School and diagnostic data from national registers | Age 14 children not in their normal grade/normal school had a 2–8 times higher risk of mental disorders. |
| 16 | School marks | Lower school marks did not predict sz or other psychoses (but did predict nonpsychotic disorders). | ||
| Isohanni et al53a | 16 | School marks | School and diagnostic data from national registers | Eleven percent of pre-sz boys had excellent school marks compared with only 3% for comparisons (adjusted OR 3.8; 95%CI 1.6–9.3). |
| Isohanni et al131 | Various ages | Educational outcome (completion of basic, upper secondary, or tertiary) stratified by age at onset (early onset <22 y v later) | School and diagnostic data from national registers | Early sz and nonpsychotic cases had a 3- to 6-fold adjusted odds for attaining only a basic educational level. However, persons with a later psychosis onset performed nearly as well as comparisons. |
| Alaräisänen et al54 | 16 | School performance (school marks) | National registers based on teacher assessment | In psychosis having good school performance (top 20%) was associated with a higher risk of suicide (adjusted hazard ratio 3.56 (0.97–13.05). |
| By 35 | Rates of suicide | National registers | In nonpsychosis, there was no association. | |
Note: NCDS, National Child Development Survey; sz, schizophrenia; NFBC_1966, North Finland 1966 Birth Cohort; OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.
a
28-year follow-up (sz = 76); rest later follow-up.