Abstract
Introduction: Researchers have consistently reported that people with mental disorders have elevated mortality compared with the general population. In Iran there are not systematic psychiatric case registers that could allow us to study precisely the mortality of psychiatric patients. The aim of the current study was to determine the mortality rate and clinical profile of death in a group of non-western chronic elderly schizophrenic patients. Methods: chronic geriatric subdivision of Razi Psychiatric hospital with a capacity around 220 beds (110 for each of male and female elderly patients) had been selected as the specific arena of investigation. For the present retrospective survey, all recorded deceases during the last sixty months (April of 2014-August 2019) in the said senior wards had been included in the current study. Clinical diagnosis, too, was essentially based on ‘Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders’, 5th edition (DSM-5). Results: Among eight-hundreds and frothy chronic elderly schizophrenic patients, sixty-nine deceases had been registered by the mortality committee of the hospital. As said by results, the annual rate of mortality among elderly schizophrenic patients in the present assessment was around 0.015 (0.15 per 1,000 individuals per year) and 0.017 (0.17 per 1,000 individuals per year) among male and female aged patients, respectively, which were significantly lower than current native crude death rate (p<0.000). While the age of the expired female patients was significantly more than the died male schizophrenics (p < 0.001), the life expectancy of both male and female expired patients was significantly shorter than the public’s life expectancy (p< 0.000). Besides, in the present evaluation, while cardiac illness was the main leading cause of death among old schizophrenics, reasons like suicide, falls, drug use or tuberculosis, were not applicable at all. Conclusion: While the rate of mortality among elderly schizophrenics was significantly lower than public’s crude death rate, age of the deceased female patients was significantly longer than the male expired patients and life expectancy of both male and female died patients was significantly lower than native public’s life expectancy. Cardiac disorder, as well, was the main leading cause of death among aged schizophrenic patients.
Highlights
Researchers have consistently reported that people with mental disorders have elevated mortality compared with the general population
Among eight-hundreds and frothy elderly schizophrenic patients hospitalized in the chronic geriatric section of Razi psychiatric hospital (n=505 & n=335, for male and female aged patients, respectively), during the last sixty-four months, sixty-nine deceases had been registered by the mortality committee of the hospital
The mean ± standard deviation (SD) of the age of the deceased patients were around 68.2 ± 6.81 and 73.57 ± 6.82 for male & female patients, respectively, which could well reveal a significant gender-based difference, by the way (t = 3.245, probability < 0.001, CI 95% = 2.07, 8.67)
Summary
Researchers have consistently reported that people with mental disorders have elevated mortality compared with the general population. Another complicating factor is that mental disorders are associated with risk factors for mortality [7] In this regard, people with mental disorders have high rates of adverse health behaviors, including tobacco smoking, substance use, physical inactivity, and poor diet[7]. Elderly persons have a higher risk for suicide than any other population [13] In this regard, some scholars believe that mortality is significantly higher among people with mental disorders than among the comparison population and mental disorders rank among the most substantial causes of death worldwide [1], and mortality risk of the long-stay psychiatric patients compared with that of the general population was Auctores Publishing – Volume 2(2)-014 www.auctoresonline.org
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