Prevalence

Schizophrenia is a disease that affects people worldwide.  However, it has been hypothesized that certain geographical, social and cultural variations can affect the rate of incidence.  For instance, there is a higher risk of being diagnosed with schizophrenia if an individual was born in an urban setting, compared to those who were born in rural settings (DSM IV 2000).

The range of prevalence among adults is between 0.5%-1.5%.  Annual incidents of schizophrenia range between 0.5 and 5.0 per 10,000 people (DSM IV 2000).