Increased cardiovascular risk in patients with severe mental illness

People with severe mental illness (SMI) have a reduced life expectancy. A major cause of mortality is cardiovascular disease.

The aims of this study were to document the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in people with SMI engaged in community psychiatric rehabilitation and compare prevalence rates to the general, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) populations of Australia.

A cross-sectional audit was conducted on patients receiving care from Melbourne's Inner-West Area Mental Health Service. Profiles were collected on: smoking status, body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure, diabetic status and fasting lipid profiles. These were compared with the general and ATSI Australian populations.

Complete data were available for 60 patients. Most were involuntary patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Patients were more likely to smoke, be obese, have dyslipidaemia and the metabolic syndrome compared with the general and ATSI populations of Australia. Patients were more likely to have diabetes than the general population but had similar rates to the ATSI population. Patients had similar rates of hypertension to the general population but were less likely to be hypertensive compared with the ATSI population.

Australians living with SMI have very high rates of cardiovascular risk factors, far in excess of the general Australian population and comparable with the ATSI population.