Leading Causes of Death in Institutionalized Chronic Schizophrenic Patients: A Study of 1,275 Autopsy Protocols

Causes of death were analyzed for 1275 white male chronic hospitalized schizophrenics age 40+. Autopsies are from 29 VA hospitals. Mean age at death was 62.8 years. Leading causes; coronary heart disease & malignant neoplasm were same as in general male population aged 40-85. 31% of schizophrenics died suddenly, 2/3 of these due to coronary disease. 13 (1%) deaths were accidental, 7 (0.5%) were suicides; for these causes general male population percentages were 3-4 times higher. (RB)