Mortality and Medical Comorbidity Among Psychiatric Patients: a Review

The authors reviewed the literature that describes excess mortality & underrecognition & undertreatment of comorbid medical conditions in mentally ill persons. 66 English-language papers & 1 German paper from 1912 were included in the review. Numerous studies have consistently shown that psychiatric patients have higher mortality rates than the general population. A number of the studies reviewed for this article also indicate these patients have high mortality rates for deaths by unnatural causes, including suicide. Increased mortality risk was found to be consistently associated with the first two years after psychiatric hospitalization. (67 refs.)