title: Increasing mortality gap for patients diagnosed with schizophrenia over the last three decades--a Danish nationwide study from 1980 to 2010.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study is to describe secular trends in the average age of death in patients with schizophrenia and to compare these with the general population.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a longitudinal linkage study from 1 January 1980 to 31 December 2010 using the Danish Psychiatric Research Register and the Danish Cause of Death Register. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and survival analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average age of death in the schizophrenia population (62.2 years; 95% CI, 61.9-62.5) was lower compared to the general population (73.4 years; 95% CI, 73.4-73.4), P<0.001. In the general population we found, for men, an average increase in the age of death of 0.28 years (95% CI, 0.27-0.28) per calendar year, and for women an increase in age of death of 0.31 years (95% CI, 0.31-0.32) per calendar year (both P<0.001). In contrast, age of death decreased in the schizophrenia population: the change in average age of death for males was 0.04 years (95% CI, -0.09 to 0.00) per calendar year (P<0.05), and the comparable estimate for females was -0.05 years (95% CI, -0.09 to 0.01) per calendar year (P<0.05). A similar pattern existed after acts of self-harm as cause of death were excluded from the analyses. Patients diagnosed with schizophrenia had an increased mortality rate compared with the general population (hazard ratio, 2.05; 95% CI, 2.01-2.09).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  On average, patients with schizophrenia die younger than the general population, independent of intentional self-harm as cause of death.
authors.affiliation: Unit for Psychiatric Research, Aalborg Psychiatric Hospital, Aarhus University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark. ren@rn.dk
authors.forename: René Ernst
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.forename: Anne Sofie
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Uggerby
authors.forename: Signe Olrik Wallenstein
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.forename: John Joseph
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: McGrath
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003718:Denmark; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality*; D017678:Sex Distribution; D016019:Survival Analysis