Table 1

Reduced Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV) and Heterozygous β-Thalassaemia in 1014 Psychiatric Outpatients
RDC Diagnosis
 Number of Patients
 MCV<80 μ3 N (%)
 Heterozygous β-Thalassaemiaa






Definite
 Probable
 Total (%)
Manic Schizoaffective
 288
 88 (30.6)
 42
 16
 58 (20.1)
Bipolar with Mania
 269
 59 (21.9)
 17
 21
 38 (14.1)
Bipolar with Hypomania
 175
 36 (20.6)
 16
 8
 24 (13.7)
Depressive Schizoaffective
 96
 19 (19.8)
 6
 4
 10 (10.4)
Recurrent Major Depression
 124
 24 (19.4)
 7
 7
 14 (11.3)
Other (Schizophrenia, Minor Depression, etc)
 62
 8 (12.9)
 1
 3
 4 (6.5)
TOTAL
 1014
 234 (23.1)
 89
 59
 148 (14.6)

aRates of heterozygous β-thalassaemia are estimated based on the number of definite cases (MCV <80 μ3 and increased HbA2) plus the number of probable cases (62 % of patients with MCV <80 μ3 but unknown HbA2).

Bocchetta Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health 2005 1:6   doi:10.1186/1745-0179-1-6