Association Between Age at Onset of Schizophrenia and Age at Menarche/Sizofreni baslangic yasi ile menars yasi arasindaki iliski

Introduction: Increasing evidence from clinical practice, as well as from epidemiological and basic research shows that there are gender differences in clinical features of schizophrenia, and this may be related to estrogens. There may be a relationship between earlier puberty and later onset of the disease, because of the protective effects of estrogens in women with schizophrenia. In this study, our aim was to analyze the correlation between age of menarche and age of onset of schizophrenia and to investigate the protective effects of estrogens in schizophrenia. Method: In this study, we included 289 patients who were diagnosed with schizophrenia. Those with mental deficiency or organic brain disorders were excluded from the study. All subjects were given a socio-demographic form to determine their personal information, age at menarche, age at first odd behavior, age at onset of the disease and first hospitalization. Data on factors which may affect the association between age at onset of schizophrenia and age at menarche such as family history, head or birth trauma etc. were recorded on the information form. Results: We found out that age at menarche was negatively associated with age at first odd behavior and age at first psychotic symptoms. Conclusion: Our study verifies the protective effects of estrogens and shows that the earlier puberty may be the cause of later onset of schizophrenia. A gender-sensitive approach in psychiatry improves our understanding of mental illness and our therapeutic strategies. (Archives of Neuropsychiatry 2014; 51:211-215) Key words: Schizophrenia, gender, menarche age, age at onset of schizophrenia Giris: Epidemiyolojik ve laboratuara dayali arastirmalar kadar klinik kanitlar da ostrojenin kadinlarin ruhsal durumu uzerinde anlamli etkisi oldugunu gostermektedir. Bu konu ile ilgili yapilan arastirmalarda sizofrenide belirli ozellikler acisindan cinsiyete dair farkliliklar oldugu bilinmekte; bunda ostrojenin kadin sizofreni hastalarinda koruyucu rolunun etkisi oldugu hipotezi one surulmektedir. Bu calismada, bizim amacimiz kadin sizofreni hastalarinda sizofreni baslangic yasi ile menars yasi arasindaki korelasyonu arastirarak, ostrojenin sizofrenide koruyucu etkisini sorgulamaktir. Yontem: SCID gorusmesi sonucunda sizofreni tanisi onaylanan 289 hasta calismaya dahil edildi. Zeka geriligi ya da bilinen organik beyin hastaligi (epilepsi, inme vb.) bulunan hastalar calismaya alinmadi. Verilen sosyodemografik form ile hastalar