Takeaway
- Patients with mental illness are significantly less likely to receive cancer screenings than those without mental illness, especially women with schizophrenia, according to a meta-analysis that included 4.5 million people in all continents except Africa.
Why this matters
- People with mental illness have a greater risk for cancer-related death compared with those without mental illness.
Study design
- A meta-analysis of 46 studies focusing on any type of cancer screening in patients with mental illness (patients with mental illness, n=501,559; control individuals, n=4,216,280).
- Funding: None.
Key results
- Median quality of studies: 7 (interquartile range, 6-8).
- Disparities in cancer screening were noted in patients with mental illness vs control patients (P<.001):
- any cancer: OR, 0.76;
- breast cancer: OR, 0.65;
- cervical cancer: OR, 0.89; and
- prostate cancer: OR, 0.78.
- However, this trend was not observed for colorectal cancer (OR, 1.02; P=.75).
- Compared with the control group, screening frequency in patients with schizophrenia was:
- any cancer: OR, 0.62 (P<.001);
- breast cancer: OR, 0.52 (P<.001); and
- cervical cancer: OR, 0.75 (P=.010).
- Screening frequency in patients with mood disorders vs control was:
- less likely for any (OR, 0.85) and breast (OR, 0.77; P both<.001) cancer;
- more likely for colorectal cancer (OR, 1.18; P=.036).
Limitations
- Findings should be interpreted with caution.
Coauthored with Chitra Ravi, MPharm
References
References