Background: There has been much debate about changes in the incidence of schizophrenia.
Aims: To identify any changes in incidence of schizophrenia in Camberwell, south-east London, between 1965 and 1997.
Method: Research Diagnostic Criteria and DSM-III-R diagnoses were generated for all first contacts by the OPCRIT computer program, and incidence rates of schizophrenia in seven time periods were measured. Indirect standardisation and Poisson models were used to measure the effect of time period and to examine interactions with age and gender.
Results: There was a continuous and statistically significant increase in the incidence of schizophrenia, which was greatest in people under 35 years of age and was not gender-specific.
Conclusions: The incidence of schizophrenia has doubled in south-east London over the past three decades.