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Journal Article

Citation

Pedersen CB, Mortensen PB. BMC Psychiatry 2006; 6: 2.

Affiliation

National Centre for Register-based Research, University of Aarhus, Taasingegade 1, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. cbp@ncrr.dk

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group - BMC)

DOI

10.1186/1471-244X-6-2

PMID

16423297

PMCID

PMC1386659

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Urban birth or upbringing increase schizophrenia risk. Though unknown, the causes of these urban-rural differences have been hypothesized to include, e.g., infections, diet, toxic exposures, social class, or an artefact due to selective migration. METHODS: We investigated the hypothesis that traffic related exposures affect schizophrenia risk and that this potential effect is responsible for the urban-rural differences. The geographical distance from place of residence to nearest major road was used as a proxy variable for traffic related exposures. We used a large population-based sample of the Danish population (1.89 million people) including information on all permanent addresses linked with geographical information on all roads and house numbers in Denmark. Schizophrenia in cohort members (10,755 people) was identified by linkage with the Danish Psychiatric Central Register. RESULTS: The geographical distance from place of residence to nearest major road had a significant effect. The highest risk was found in children living 500-1000 metres from nearest major road (RR = 1.30 (95% Confidence Interval: 1.17-1.44). However, when we accounted for the degree of urbanization, the geographical distance to nearest major road had no significant effect. CONCLUSION: The cause(s) or exposure(s) responsible for the urban-rural differences in schizophrenia risk were closer related to the degree of urbanization than to the geographical distance to nearest major road. Traffic related exposures might thus be less likely explanations for the urban-rural differences in schizophrenia risk.


Language: en

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