People with mental disorders at higher risk of developing physical illnesses

People with mental disorders have a higher risk of developing various physical illnesses, such as a cardiovascular disease and a stroke. This is the outcome of an extensive study published in the leading New England Journal of Medicine in which the Groningen researchers Professor Peter de Jonge and Dr. Annelieke Roest (University of Groningen, Department of Developmental Psychology) participated. According to the researchers, the results are of great importance because mental disorders are more likely to reveal themselves rather than physical illnesses. Thus, a mental disorder can be an early signal to actively monitor someone in order to prevent physical complaints. For the study, an international research team analyzed data from more than 5.9 million Danes that were monitored for the presence of mental disorders and physical diseases between 2000 and 2016.

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More information:

• International press release
• Professor John McGrath, from UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute and Denmark’s Aarhus University (teamleader international team of researchers)
• The researchers have developed a website where relative and absolute risks of medical conditions can be explored, depending on sex, types of mental disorder, age of mental disorder diagnosis and time since mental disorder diagnosis.

• Association between Mental Disorders and Subsequent Medical Conditions, N Engl J Med 2020;382:1721-31 / DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1915784