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Eight million deaths attributed to mental illness each year, worldwide

Patients with mental disorders may have a greater risk for mortality compared with those without such conditions, according to data published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Approximately eight million deaths worldwide can caused by mental disorders each year, according researchers.

“Reduction of this burden will require a focus on less prevalent but more severe diagnoses and more common mental disorders,” Elizabeth Reisinger Walker, PhD, MPH, MAT, from the department of health policy and management at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, and colleagues wrote. “Likewise, efforts must be made to prevent and manage comorbid medical conditions and reduce the occurrence of unnatural deaths in this vulnerable population.”

The researchers identified 203 articles, across 29 countries, for their systematic review across multiple databases. They searched for terms related to mental disorders, specific diagnoses and mortality.

Data indicate 148 studies yielded 149 relative risks (RR) for all-cause mortality among those with mental disorders (RR = 2.22; 95% CI, 2.12-2.33). Of those, 135 studies demonstrated that mortality was significantly greater among patients with mental disorders compared with other populations, researchers wrote.

The researchers also found that 338,381 deaths were reported in 133 studies. Specifically, the mortality risk for psychoses was significantly greater compared with those for depression (P < .001), bipolar disorder (P = .01), and anxiety (P < .001), according to data.

Many deaths (67.3%) were attributed to natural causes accounted for among patients with mental disorders, compared with the comparison populations, researchers wrote. Another 17.5% were due to unnatural causes.

Life expectancy reductions ranged from 1.4 to 32 years, with a median of 10.1 years across 22 studies, according to data. – by Samantha Costa

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.