Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Apr;206(4):289-96.
doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.114.149112. Epub 2015 Feb 5.

Excess mortality in severe mental illness: 10-year population-based cohort study in rural Ethiopia

Affiliations

Excess mortality in severe mental illness: 10-year population-based cohort study in rural Ethiopia

Abebaw Fekadu et al. Br J Psychiatry. 2015 Apr.

Abstract

Background: Evidence on mortality in severe mental illness (SMI) comes primarily from clinical samples in high-income countries.

Aims: To describe mortality in people with SMI among a population cohort from a low-income country.

Method: We followed-up 919 adults (from 68 378 screened) with SMI over 10 years. Standardised mortality ratios (SMR) and years of life lost (YLL) as a result of premature mortality were calculated.

Results: In total 121 patients (13.2%) died. The overall SMR was twice that of the general population; higher for men and people with schizophrenia. Patients died about three decades prematurely, mainly from infectious causes (49.6%). Suicide, accidents and homicide were also common causes of death.

Conclusions: Mortality is an important adverse outcome of SMI irrespective of setting. Addressing common natural and unnatural causes of mortality are urgent priorities. Premature death and mortality related to self-harm should be considered in the estimation of the global burden of disease for SMI.

PubMed Disclaimer