Internal migration and urbanicity as risk factors for first-episode psychosis

• Grant number: 16/17713-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): November 01, 2016
• Effective date (End): October 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Psychiatry
• Principal Investigator: Cristina Marta Del-Ben
• Grantee: Lorena de Souza Rodrigues Do Carmo
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 12/05178-0 - Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders: social and biological determinants, AP.TEM

Abstract

The prevalence of psychotic disorders is significant worldwide, and it is estimated that between 1% and 4% of the Brazilian population will develop those disorders in a lifetime. The incidence of schizophrenia, specifically, is estimated to be 15,2/100.000, presenting on the last decades the worrisome tendency of increasing. This illness has high morbidity and mortality increased twice to three-times in comparison to the general population. Besides, systematic reviews show variation in its incidence among different populations, regions and groups, that cannot be credited to methodological differences and are relatively consistent for variables regarding people (like migrants) and places (differences between rural and urban areas). Considering that migration acts as a relevant factor for psychosis according to the model of stress-vulnerability ("social defeat") and that there is variation on the incidence of psychosis not only among different countries, but also inside them, we were, therefore, instigated to investigate internal migration and urbanicity as potential risk factors for schizophrenia and other psychosis. On the same hand, in Brazil there is still a lot to study regarding how demographic changes like unorganized urbanization and different migration flows influence the incidence of psychosis. Hence, this study will explore the impact of internal migration on the incidence of first psychotic episode in two regions of the State of São Paulo: the capital of São Paulo and the region of Ribeirão Preto, which have different human development rates and different histories of immigration from poor areas of the country. This project intends to use data from the thematic projects "Incidence of first-contact psychosis in São Paulo, Brazil" and "Esquizofrenia e outros transtornos psicóticos: determinantes sociais e biológicos". (AU)