Article contents
Introduction: Cardiovascular Disease and Metabolic Risk Factors in Patients with Mental Illness
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 November 2014
Extract
According to the National Comorbidity Study Replication, >25% of people in the United States have some type of mental illness. The prevalence of serious mental illness has been estimated at 6.2%. Patients with severe and persistent mental illness have significantly reduced life expectancy relative to the general population. On average, pooled populations of public sector inpatients and outpatients die 25–30 years earlier than unaffected individuals in the general population, according to recent data from multiple states in the US. Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder together account for ∼23,000 deaths and >20 million life-years of disability worldwide each year. The most common cause of mortality in these individuals is cardiovascular disease (CVD), not, as might be assumed, suicide (Figure 1). Heart disease and stroke are the most common causes of death in patients with serious mental illness, accounting for ∼40% of deaths, underlying the dramatically decreased life expectancy in these patients.
- Type
- Clinical Information Supplement
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008
References
- 4
- Cited by