Mental Disorders Linked With Subsequent Physical Disease

People with mental disorders appear to develop subsequent physical diseases at younger ages and to die earlier, compared with people without mental disorders, according to a population-based cohort study published online in JAMA Network Open.

“These longitudinal associations were observed across different psychiatric disorders, across men and women, and across the life span,” researchers wrote, “and they remained after accounting for preexisting physical diseases.”

The findings stemmed from an analysis of 2.3 million residents in New Zealand who were followed over a 30-year observation period. During the study timeframe, 4.4% of the study population was admitted to a hospital for a mental disorder.

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In addition to finding associations between mental disorders and the subsequent onset of physical disease and earlier death, the study found a greater number of physical disease diagnoses and hospitalizations among people with mental disorders. Mental health disorders were also linked with longer hospital stays for physical disease treatments and higher associated health care costs.

Researchers cautioned that mental disorders might be risk markers rather than risk factors for physical health issues and could signal a general susceptibility to worse health. Nevertheless, even if not a direct cause of physical disease, mental disorders could be considered early warning signs of the potential for later health physical problems, with implications for screening, prevention, and treatment.

“In this study, mental disorders were likely to begin and peak in young adulthood, and they antedated physical diseases and early mortality in the population,” researchers wrote. “These findings suggest that ameliorating mental disorders may have implications for improving the length and quality of life and for reducing the health care costs associated with physical diseases.”

—Jolynn Tumolo

Reference

Richmond-Rakerd LS, D'Souza S, Milne BJ, Caspi A, Moffitt TE. Longitudinal associations of mental disorders with physical diseases and mortality among 2.3 million New Zealand citizens. JAMA Network Open. 2021;4(1):e2033448.