How many people have schizophrenia?
Epidemiology of schizophrenia
Schizophrenia affects around 0.3–0.7% of people at some point in their life,[1] or 21million people worldwide as of 2011 (about one of every 285).[2] By using precise methods in its diagnosis and a large, representative population, schizophrenia seems to occur with relative consistency over time during the last half-century.[3]
Diagnosis of schizophrenia
Early-onset schizophrenia occurs from ages 20–30, late-onset occurs after the age of 40, and very-late-onset after the age of 60. It is estimated that 15% of the population with schizophrenia are late-onset and 5% very-late onset. Many of the symptoms of late-onset schizophrenia are similar to the early-onset. However, individuals with late-onsets are more likely to report hallucinations in all sensory modalities modalities, as well as persecutory and partition delusions. On the other hand, late-onset cases are less likely to present with formal thought disorder, affective symptoms. Negative symptoms and cognitive impairment are also rarer in very-late onset cases.