The risk of physical multimorbidity in people with psychotic disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Authors

Myanca Rodrigues, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
Joshua C. Wiener, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
Saverio Stranges, Schulich School of Medicine & DentistryFollow
Bridget L. Ryan, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
Kelly K. Anderson, Western UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2021

Journal

Journal of Psychosomatic Research

Volume

140

First Page

110315

URL with Digital Object Identifier

10.1016/j.jpsychores.2020.110315

Abstract

Background: The occurrence of multiple co-occurring chronic health conditions, known as multimorbidity, is associated with decreases in quality of life for patients and poses unique challenges for healthcare systems. Since people with psychotic disorders have an excess of physical health conditions compared to the general population, they may also be at a higher risk for multimorbidity. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to quantify the prevalence and excess risk of multimorbidity among people with psychotic disorders, relative to those without psychosis.

Methods: We searched the MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsycINFO databases, and conducted forward and backward citation tracing of included studies. Studies published after 1990 were included if they reported the prevalence of multiple chronic physical health conditions among people with psychotic disorders. Data on the prevalence and relative risk of multimorbidity were meta-analyzed using random effects models.

Results: Fourteen studies met the inclusion criteria, and eight were included in the meta-analysis. Each study used a different operational definition of multimorbidity, both for the number and types of chronic conditions, which resulted in a wide range in prevalence estimates (16% to 91%). People with psychotic disorders had an increased risk of multimorbidity (RR = 1.69, 95%CI = 1.37,2.08), relative to those without psychosis.

Conclusions: People with psychotic disorders are more likely to experience multimorbidity than those without psychotic disorders. Clinicians treating people with psychosis should closely monitor for a range of physical health conditions. Future research examining multimorbidity among people with psychiatric illness should employ consistent definitions to better enable cross-study comparisons.

Notes

This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.