Patients with very‐late‐onset schizoprhenia‐like psychosis have higher mortality rates than elderly patients with earlier onset schizophrenia

Abstract

Patients with VLOSLP, especially men, are at even higher risk of death than schizophrenia patients with earlier onset. Physical comorbidities and accidents in the VLOSLP group mostly explained this result. Targeted clinical interventions with effective collaboration between psychiatry and primary and specialist-level somatic care are crucial to reduce their excess mortality

Mortality and Its Determinants in Late-Life Schizophrenia: A 5-Year Prospective Study in a Dutch Catchment Area

“…This explanation is further supported by the high frequency of accidental falls as cause of death. 18 Next, our findings do not support the idea that the length of exposure to the disorder and to the possibly associated high-risk lifestyle has major impact on the mortality risk. In contrast, the severity of the disorder may negatively impact on survival as is suggested by the raised mortality in participants with compulsory admissions in the past, on the premise that involuntary hospitalization can be regarded as a proxy for the severity of the disorder.…”

“…This finding is at variance with Talaslahti and colleagues who reported mortality in very-late-onset schizophrenia-like psychosis patients to be almost twice as high as in patients with an earlier onset. 18 However, a high percentage of dementias was found in their sample.…”

Psychiatric hospital admission and long-term care in patients with very-late-onset schizophrenia-like psychosis

“…Surprisingly, higher age increased and physical diseases, such as cardiovascular or respiratory diseases, decreased the likelihood. In earlier studies, we reported that elderly patients with schizophrenia, especially those in the VLOSLP group, had higher mortality rates than age‐matched general population (Talaslahti et al ., , ).…”

Mortality in Schizophrenia and Other Psychoses: Data from the South Korea National Health Insurance Cohort, 2002–2013

“…In schizophrenia patients, the SMR for all-cause mortality was analyzed to be 2.98 based on a meta-analysis of 38 studies (15). Elevated SMR was also found among late onset schizophrenia patients aged 60 or above, inferring that schizophrenia also increases mortality in old age (16). With regard to mood disorders, all-cause mortality increased 2-fold among Swedish patients with bipolar disorder in prior research (17).…”