Takeaway
- People with psychiatric diagnoses remain at elevated risk for ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke compared with unaffected peers and despite overall absolute declines in rates of both.
- Socioeconomic status appears to be a factor with some diagnoses, but not all.
Why this matters
- The association of psychiatric diagnoses and stroke/IHD has been previously reported, but these authors examined whether the decreased rates overall had reached the psychiatric patient population.
Key results
- IHD and stroke have both decreased over the years.
- However, people with psychiatric disorders had increased risks ranging from 2- to 2.5-fold greater compared with their unaffected peers.
- Socioeconomic status and sex were both factors in the age at which incidents occurred.
- The sexes were not distinct in their relative risks for stroke and IHD with psychiatric disorders.
- Lower socioeconomic status was tied to increasing risk, except for schizophrenia.
Study design
- Scottish patient records covering 1991-2015.
- The analysis covered:
- 645,393 IHD and 276,073 stroke events among people without psychiatric hospital admissions.
- 3180 IHD and 1433 stroke events among people with schizophrenia.
- 4927 and 2600 events among those with bipolar disorder.
- 11,260 and 5668 events among those with depression.
- Funding: Wellcome Trust-University of Edinburgh Institutional Strategic Support Fund; others.
Limitations
- Psychiatric diagnosis identification was based only on a related hospital admission, so generalisation to a less-affected population is unclear.
- The emphasis on treatment during the covered period shifted from hospital to community care.
Curated and written by Emily J. Willingham, Ph.D.
References
References
