Mortality in DSM-IIIR schizophrenia

Mortality was investigated in 356 DSM-IIIR schizophrenics admitted to a university psychiatric hospital over a 12-year period. Determination of death was made through a record-linkage process and observed death was compared with the mortality experience of the general population of the State of Iowa. Schizophrenics had nearly a three-fold increase in overall mortality. Mortality was primarily attributable to unnatural causes of death, particularly suicide, which was more than twenty-three times greater than expected. Mortality was greater in schizophrenic patients younger than 40 years and during the early portion of follow-up. Studies of mortality in psychiatric patients continue to be important, particularly as diagnostic criteria become better refined.