Mortality Among Psychiatric Inpatients

Schizophrenia: A Life-shortening Disease

“…Saugstad and Ødegård (1979) followed patients identified at three different time periods and found a substantial decline in the excess mortality. Craig and Lin (1981) also found a decline in the mortality among psychiatric patients, although not analyzed by psychiatric diagnosis. They pointed out that comparison over time is difficult because of changes in admission criteria, length of stay, etc.…”

“…They pointed out that comparison over time is difficult because of changes in admission criteria, length of stay, etc. The main conclusion of Craig and Lin (1981) was that the mortality among psychiatric patients had not increased after the introduction of psychotropic drugs and that a decline in mortality may Tsuang & Woolson (1977) 0degard (1952) Period of entry to study 1924-36 1960-66 1972-81 1971-73 1958-59 1947-58 1950, 1960, 1970 1934^4 1926-41 have occurred. The possible decline in mortality might be explained by such factors as medication, deinstitutionalization, and quality of inpatient care.…”

Sudden Death in Psychiatric Patients: The Role of Neuroleptic Drugs—by George M. Simpson, M.D., John Davis, M.D., James W. Jefferson, M.D., and Jorge F. Perez-Cruet, M.D.; task force report 27 of the American Psychiatric Association, 1988, 35 pages. Single copies available free from the Office of Research, APA, 1400 K Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005

“…There were two sudden deaths in this group, neither of which were attributed to tricyclic antidepressants or phenothiazines. The small sample size of each of the above studies limits any firm conclusions and is at odds with the report of Craig and Lin (1981) [reported in detail on p. 11] which found no difference in mortality rates between the pre-and post-neuroleptic period, but nonetheless found a higher mortality rate in both periods than that in the general population.…”

Metoprolol and diltiazem ameliorate ziprasidone-induced prolonged corrected QT interval in rats

“…The antipsychotic drugs have been associated with the development of ventricular arrhythmia, which is occasionally fatal. Many studies indicated that the mortality rate in both young and elderly psychotic patients remained much greater than that for the general population (Hansen et al, 1997;Casadebaig and Quemada, 1989;Craig and Lin, 1981). The increased risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) among psychiatric patients is mostly due to accompanying medical diseases such as cardiovascular and endocrine disorders, unhealthy living conditions, eating disorders or drug addiction (Brown et al, 2000;Jeste et al, 1996;Kjelsberg, 2000).…”