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The finding of better outcome of schizophrenia in developing countries offers challenges to the understanding of schizophrenia and opportunities for the development of care programmes in the developed world. This study aims to compare socio-demographic and clinical variables of people with schizophrenia in two cultures. Seventy-eight patients from Liverpool and 60 patients from Bangalore diagnosed as having schizophrenia were evaluated using a questionnaire designed to obtain socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. Patients from Liverpool compared to Bangalore, comprised of more men, of younger age group, fewer patients ever-married, more patients living alone and more patients unemployed. In-patient treatment was common in Liverpool and rare in Bangalore. Bangalore patients were more socially integrated than the Liverpool patients, who appeared socially marginalised. These findings have implications on developing future strategies of care in the community for patients with schizophrenic illness in terms of emphasising the life history of ill persons and developing interventions to minimise marginalisation and stigma.

The influence of the moon on patient consultations for anxiety or depression in general practice was assessed through a retrospective survey based on general practice medical records and on lunar records detailing the dates and times of different phases of the moon. Seven-hundred-eighty-two patients continuously registered in a general practice in Beckenham, South London, between 1971 and 1988 were included in analyses. No statistically significant lunar effect was found by setting the expected surge in consultations one to three days after the full moon and the period of the sine-wave curve to 30 days. Similarly, no statistically significant lunar effect was found, when the period of the sine-wave curve was allowed to vary in order to best fit the data. The moon had little influence on when individuals consulted their general practitioner with anxiety or depression.