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Auditory hallucinations across the lifespan: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Open accessAbstract
Background: Auditory Hallucinations (AH) are nowadays regarded as symptoms following a continuum; from a (transient) phenomenon in healthy individuals on one end to a symptom of (psychiatric) illnesses at the other. An accumulating number of epidemiological studies focused on the prevalence of AH in the general population, but results vary widely. The current meta-analysis aims to synthesize existing evidence on lifetime prevalence of AH across the lifespan. Methods: We conducted a quantitative review and meta-analysis according to PRISMA guidelines. Studies were combined to calculate a mean lifetime general population AH prevalence rate. Moreover, prevalences were calculated for four age groups: children (5–12 years), adolescents (13–17 years), adults (18–60 years) and elderly (⩾60 years). Results: We retrieved 25 study samples including 84 711 participants. Mean lifetime prevalence rate of AH was 9.6% (95% CI 6.7–13.6%). The mean lifetime prevalence was similar in children (12.7%) and adolescents (12.4%), but these two groups differed significantly from the adults (5.8%) and the elderly (4.5%). Significant heterogeneity indicated that there is still dispersion in true prevalence rates between studies, even within the different age categories. Conclusions: Current meta-analysis shows that AH are quite common (up to one in ten individuals) in the general population during lifetime, with children and adolescents reporting these experiences significantly more often compared with adults and elderly. Large follow-up studies on the longitudinal course of AH are needed to reveal associated risk and resilience factors.
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“Non-clinical individuals are more likely to appraise their hearing voice’s experience as benign, positive, and controllable [15], less hallucination-related distress [16], and with lower levels of negative beliefs about AVHs than people with psychiatric disorders [9, 17, 18].”
From The “common” experience of voice-hearing and its relationship with shame and guilt: a systematic review (2022) · cites this paper as [17]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Maijer, K., Begemann, M. J. H., Palmen, S. J. M. C., Leucht, S., & Sommer, I. E. C.
- Affiliations
- University Medical Center Utrecht (NL)
- TUM Klinikum (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Maijer, K.
- Venue
- Psychological Medicine
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2017-09-28
- Volume
- 48
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 879-888
- ISSN
- 0033-2917 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-8978
- OpenAlex
- W2757886337
- Cited by
- 180
- References
- 54
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 10
- FWCI
- 1.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- dspace.library.uu.nl
- Licence
- Locations
- Psychological Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- mediaTUM (Technical University of Munich) (submittedVersion)
- University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Drug Abuse
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Hallucinations in medical conditions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Mental Health and Psychiatry
- Keywords
- auditory hallucinations, lifetime prevalence, lifespan differences, children, adolescents, adults, older adults, general population, psychiatric symptoms, risk and resilience factors
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Child, Child, Preschool, Hallucinations, Humans, Longevity, Middle Aged, Young Adult
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