Twofold Increase in Mortality with Mental Illness

Individuals with any mental disorder have a more than twofold increase in all-cause mortality, compared with the general population, with around 14.3% deaths worldwide – approximately 8 million deaths each year – attributable to mental illness, a meta-analysis has concluded.

Analysis of data from 148 studies showed that the relative risk of all-cause mortality was highest among individuals with psychoses (relative risk, 2.54; 95% confidence interval, 2.35-2.75), mood disorders (RR, 2.08; 95% CI, 1.89-2.30) and bipolar disorder (RR, 2; 95% CI, 1.70-2.34), but lowest among those with anxiety.

While natural mortality was 80% higher among individuals with mental disorders, mortality from unnatural causes was seven times higher than the comparison population, and the researchers estimated a median of 10 years of potential life lost to mental illness, according to data published online in JAMA Psychiatry (2015; Feb.11 [doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.2502]).

“Differential mortality in people with mental disorders most likely stems from a number of causes, including behavioral and lifestyle factors, access to and quality of health care, and social determinants of health, such as poverty and social connectedness,” wrote Elizabeth Reisinger Walker, Ph.D., and her colleagues from Emory University in Atlanta.

The study was supported by the Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award issued jointly by the National Institutes of Health and National Institute of General Medical Sciences and an award from the National Institute of Mental Health. There were no other conflicts of interest declared.

Individuals with any mental disorder have a more than twofold increase in all-cause mortality, compared with the general population, with around 14.3% deaths worldwide – approximately 8 million deaths each year – attributable to mental illness, a meta-analysis has concluded.

Analysis of data from 148 studies showed that the relative risk of all-cause mortality was highest among individuals with psychoses (relative risk, 2.54; 95% confidence interval, 2.35-2.75), mood disorders (RR, 2.08; 95% CI, 1.89-2.30) and bipolar disorder (RR, 2; 95% CI, 1.70-2.34), but lowest among those with anxiety.

While natural mortality was 80% higher among individuals with mental disorders, mortality from unnatural causes was seven times higher than the comparison population, and the researchers estimated a median of 10 years of potential life lost to mental illness, according to data published online in JAMA Psychiatry (2015; Feb.11 [doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.2502]).

“Differential mortality in people with mental disorders most likely stems from a number of causes, including behavioral and lifestyle factors, access to and quality of health care, and social determinants of health, such as poverty and social connectedness,” wrote Elizabeth Reisinger Walker, Ph.D., and her colleagues from Emory University in Atlanta.

The study was supported by the Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award issued jointly by the National Institutes of Health and National Institute of General Medical Sciences and an award from the National Institute of Mental Health. There were no other conflicts of interest declared.

Individuals with any mental disorder have a more than twofold increase in all-cause mortality, compared with the general population, with around 14.3% deaths worldwide – approximately 8 million deaths each year – attributable to mental illness, a meta-analysis has concluded.

Analysis of data from 148 studies showed that the relative risk of all-cause mortality was highest among individuals with psychoses (relative risk, 2.54; 95% confidence interval, 2.35-2.75), mood disorders (RR, 2.08; 95% CI, 1.89-2.30) and bipolar disorder (RR, 2; 95% CI, 1.70-2.34), but lowest among those with anxiety.

While natural mortality was 80% higher among individuals with mental disorders, mortality from unnatural causes was seven times higher than the comparison population, and the researchers estimated a median of 10 years of potential life lost to mental illness, according to data published online in JAMA Psychiatry (2015; Feb.11 [doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.2502]).

“Differential mortality in people with mental disorders most likely stems from a number of causes, including behavioral and lifestyle factors, access to and quality of health care, and social determinants of health, such as poverty and social connectedness,” wrote Elizabeth Reisinger Walker, Ph.D., and her colleagues from Emory University in Atlanta.

The study was supported by the Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award issued jointly by the National Institutes of Health and National Institute of General Medical Sciences and an award from the National Institute of Mental Health. There were no other conflicts of interest declared.