Past Issues
Prevalences of Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, and Depressive
Disorders in Community between Taiwan and Other Countries
Naotaka Shinfuku
This overview was intended to re-analyze and compare the fi ndings from the
Taiwan Psychiatric Epidemiological Project (TPEP) with those from the other
studies conducted in 11 sites with different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. In
1980s, all these studies used criteria from American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, Third Edition (DSM-III), Diagnostic
Interview Schedule (DIS) in their case identifi cation tool and the identical
sampling methods. Taiwan, Hong Kong and a part of Shanghai, China, had signifi -
cantly lower lifetime prevalence rates (LPRs) for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder
and depressive disorders than South Korea and all countries with non-Eastern cultural
backgrounds. Although more genetic and biological studies are needed to explain
the lower prevalences of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, we speculate
that the cultural and family systems in Taiwan provide protecting effects on those
two disorders.
Taiwan Psychiatric Epidemiological Project (TPEP) with those from the other
studies conducted in 11 sites with different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. In
1980s, all these studies used criteria from American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, Third Edition (DSM-III), Diagnostic
Interview Schedule (DIS) in their case identifi cation tool and the identical
sampling methods. Taiwan, Hong Kong and a part of Shanghai, China, had signifi -
cantly lower lifetime prevalence rates (LPRs) for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder
and depressive disorders than South Korea and all countries with non-Eastern cultural
backgrounds. Although more genetic and biological studies are needed to explain
the lower prevalences of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, we speculate
that the cultural and family systems in Taiwan provide protecting effects on those
two disorders.
| Key Word | DSM-III mental disorders in community, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depressive disorders |
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