Association between Mental Disorders and Subsequent Medical Conditions
Natalie C Momen1, Oleguer Plana-Ripoll1, Esben Agerbo1
1From the National Center for Register-based Research (N.C.M., O.P.-R., E.A., M.K.C., S.D., J.-C.P.G.D., T.M.L., P.B.M., K.L.M., C.B.P., L.V.P., B.V., N.W., J.J.M.), Center for Integrated Register-based Research (E.A., P.B.M., C.B.P.), the Departments of Biomedicine-Human Genetics (A.D.B.) and Public Health (M.K.C., M.F.-G., K.M.I., M.V., A.P.), the Center for Integrative Sequencing (A.D.B.), and the Big Data Center for Environment and Health (C.B.P.), Aarhus University, the Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research (E.A., A.D.B., S.D., O.M., P.B.M., K.L.M., M.N., C.B.P., L.V.P., A.J.S., B.V., T.W.), the Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine (A.D.B.), the Department of Neurology (J.-C.P.G.D.), and the Research Unit, Department of Psychosis (O.M.), Aarhus University Hospital, and the Research Unit for General Practice (M.F.-G., A.R.R., M.V., A.P.), Aarhus, the Copenhagen Research Center for Mental Health, Mental Health Center Copenhagen, Copenhagen University Hospital (M.E.B., M.N., H.J.S.), Psychiatric Center Copenhagen (L.V.K.), Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences (L.V.K.), the Department of Clinical Medicine (T.W.), and the Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Center, GLOBE Institute (T.W.), University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, and the Institute of Biological Psychiatry, Mental Health Center Sankt Hans, Mental Health Services Capital Region, Roskilde (A.J.S., T.W.) - all in Denmark; the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney (L.D.), the Department of General Practice, Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC (J.M.G.), and the Queensland Brain Institute (C.C.W.L., S.S., J.J.M.), Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, the Park Centre for Mental Health (C.C.W.L., S.S., T.J.S., H.A.W., J.J.M.), and the School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine (H.A.W.), University of Queensland, Brisbane - all in Australia; the Departments of Psychology (P.J.) and Developmental Psychology (A.M.R.), Heymans Institute, and the Interdisciplinary Center, Psychopathology and Emotion Regulation (P.J., A.M.R.), University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands; the Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston (R.C.K.); the Neurogenomics Division, Translational Genomics Research Institute, Phoenix, AZ (A.J.S.); the Department of Psychological Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand (K.M.S.); Sievert Consulting, Minneapolis (C.S.); and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle (H.A.W.).
Individuals with mental disorders face a significantly higher risk of developing subsequent medical conditions. This large-scale study quantifies these risks, highlighting the crucial link between mental and physical health.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry and Public Health
- Epidemiology of Mental and Physical Health Comorbidity
Background:
- Individuals with mental disorders exhibit an elevated risk for developing specific medical conditions compared to the general population.
- Understanding the comorbidity between mental and physical health is crucial for comprehensive healthcare strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between various mental disorders and the subsequent risk of developing a wide range of medical conditions.
- To quantify the magnitude and temporal patterns of these associations using population-based data.
Main Methods:
- Utilized Danish national registry data from over 5.9 million individuals (1900-2015 births, 2000-2016 follow-up).
- Assessed 10 broad mental disorder types and 9 medical condition categories (31 specific conditions).
- Employed Cox regression and competing-risks survival analyses, adjusting for covariates.
Main Results:
- 11.8% of the cohort had a diagnosed mental disorder.
- A significant association was found for 76 out of 90 mental disorder-medical condition pairs.
- Median hazard ratio was 1.37; highest risk observed for eating disorders and urogenital conditions (HR 3.62), lowest for organic mental disorders and cancer (HR 0.82).
- Absolute risks varied, with circulatory disorders posing a 54.1% risk within 15 years for those with organic mental disorders.
Conclusions:
- Most mental disorders are linked to an increased risk of subsequent medical conditions.
- The identified risks vary significantly based on the specific mental disorder and the time elapsed since diagnosis.
- Findings underscore the importance of integrated care models addressing both mental and physical health.
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