title: Mortality among psychiatric patients referred to the mental health services in Valencia.
abstract: The rate of survival and causes of mortality in a cohort of 2103 psychiatric patients registered on a psychiatric case register and followed up for 7 years are compared with those of a general population sample (n = 2382) randomly extracted from the municipal census in Valencia (Spain). Using multivariate analysis by Cox regression, patients suffering organic psychoses and those diagnosed with drug abuse or dependency exhibited a greater risk of death than the general population for the total causes of death; no interaction was found between sociodemographic variables and psychiatric pathology. In terms of the causes of death, and controlling for the effect of age and sex, organic psychoses involved a greater risk of death due to cardiovascular and respiratory causes, and a greater risk of non-natural deaths than the general population. Schizophrenia and related conditions, the abuse of alcohol/ other drugs, and neurosis/personality disorders all presented a higher risk of death from liver disease. The major affective disorders involved a greater risk of death due to suicide or accidents. The study concludes with a discussion of the possible explanations of these results.
authors.affiliation: Malvarrosa Mental Health Center, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Salazar-Fraile
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gómez-Beneyto
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pérez-Hoyos
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hurtado-Navarro
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002423:Cause of Death; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000401:mortality*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012306:Risk; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000401:mortality