Death Rate From Ischaemic Heart Disease in Western Australian Psychiatric Patients 1980-1998

This article investigated the association between mental illness & ischaemic heart disease hospital admissions, revascularisation procedures & deaths. A population-based record-linkage study of 210,129 users of mental health services in Western Australia indicated that ischaemic heart disease, rather than suicide, was the major cause of excess mortality in psychiatric patients. The author asserts that people with mental illness do not receive an equitable level of intervention for heart disease. (26 refs) (SC)