Global evaluation of the impact of food fortification with folic acid on rates of schizophrenia

IF 3.6 2区医学 Q1 PSYCHIATRY

Schizophrenia Research Pub Date : 2025-04-11 DOI:10.1016/j.schres.2025.04.007

Samantha Yoo , Azita Montazeri , Helene McNulty , Monique Potvin Kent , Derrick Bennett , Julian Little

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Low folate status is one of the multiple factors thought to contribute to the development of schizophrenia. As of 2023, over 70 countries have implemented mandatory fortification of foods with folic acid, a public health measure aimed at reducing neural tube defects; however, the impact of such policy on schizophrenia has not been comprehensively investigated.

Method

We assessed the impact of mandatory folic acid fortification on changes in the schizophrenia rates in 194 jurisdictions between 1990 and 2019 using publicly available data. We used weighted regression models adjusted for sociodemographic and sociopolitical factors, experience of natural disasters, and baseline schizophrenia rate.

Results

Age-adjusted prevalence and incidence of schizophrenia increased marginally between 1990 and 2019. In all geographic regions, schizophrenia prevalence and incidence per 100,000 positively correlated with countries' sociodemographic index and were lower with fortification. Schizophrenia burdens were higher among males compared to females. Lower prevalence and incidence of schizophrenia were associated with having mandatory fortification with modest magnitudes. Duration of fortification or the fortification dose did not appear to have a strong impact. However, in the 15–39 year age-group, both mandatory fortification (β = −13·14 (−22·60, −3·68)) and duration of fortification (β = −0·82 (−1·40, −0·23)) were significantly associated with lower schizophrenia with larger magnitude in both sexes. The highest dose tertile was reported to have the lowest incidence and the smallest increase in prevalence in this age-group.

Conclusion

Folic acid fortification may be a beneficial intervention in lowering schizophrenia among adolescents and young adults.

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来源期刊

Schizophrenia Research 医学-精神病学

CiteScore

7.50

自引率

8.90%

发文量

429

审稿时长

10.2 weeks

期刊介绍： As official journal of the Schizophrenia International Research Society (SIRS) Schizophrenia Research is THE journal of choice for international researchers and clinicians to share their work with the global schizophrenia research community. More than 6000 institutes have online or print (or both) access to this journal - the largest specialist journal in the field, with the largest readership! Schizophrenia Research''s time to first decision is as fast as 6 weeks and its publishing speed is as fast as 4 weeks until online publication (corrected proof/Article in Press) after acceptance and 14 weeks from acceptance until publication in a printed issue. The journal publishes novel papers that really contribute to understanding the biology and treatment of schizophrenic disorders; Schizophrenia Research brings together biological, clinical and psychological research in order to stimulate the synthesis of findings from all disciplines involved in improving patient outcomes in schizophrenia.