title: Eight-year trends of cardiometabolic morbidity and mortality in patients with schizophrenia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We examined cardiometabolic disease and mortality over 8 years among individuals with and without schizophrenia.
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared 65,362 patients in the Veteran Affairs (VA) health system with schizophrenia to 65,362 VA patients without serious mental illness (non-SMI) matched on age, service access year and location. The annual prevalence of diagnosed cardiovascular disease, diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, obesity, and all-cause and cause-specific mortality was compared for fiscal years 2000-2007. Mean years of potential life lost (YPLLs) were calculated annually.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The cohort was mostly male (88%) with a mean age of 54 years. Cardiometabolic disease prevalence increased in both groups, with non-SMI patients having higher disease prevalence in most years. Annual between-group differences ranged from <1% to 6%. Annual mortality was stable over time for schizophrenia (3.1%) and non-SMI patients (2.6%). Annual mean YPLLs increased from 12.8 to 15.4 in schizophrenia and from 11.8 to 14.0 for non-SMI groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  VA patients with and without schizophrenia show increasing but similar prevalence rates of cardiometabolic diseases. YPLLs were high in both groups and only slightly higher among patients with schizophrenia. The findings highlight the complex population served by the VA while suggesting a smaller mortality impact from schizophrenia than previously reported.
authors.affiliation: Dartmouth Medical School, Department of Community and Family Medicine, Hanover, NH 03755, USA.
authors.forename: Nancy E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Morden
authors.forename: Zongshan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: David E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Goodrich
authors.forename: Todd
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: MacKenzie
authors.forename: John F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: McCarthy
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Austin
authors.forename: Deborah E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Welsh
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bartels
authors.forename: Amy M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Kilbourne
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008659:Metabolic Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs