Aging of persons with schizophrenia: analysis of a national dataset

The number of older adults suffering from schizophrenia is increasing. Despite this, less than 1% of published studies about schizophrenia focus on those older than 65 years. Research indicates these individuals may age differently from the general population due to lifestyle, medication factors, and effects of the disease itself. We aimed to analyze whether schizophrenia was associated with a younger age at first assessment for social care as a proxy measure for accelerated aging.

We analyzed the effect of schizophrenia diagnosis, demographics, mood, comorbidities, falls, cognition, and substance use on age at first assessment for social care using linear regression.

We used data from 168,780 interRAI Home Care and Long-Term Care Facility (HC; LTCF) assessments completed from July 2013 to June 2020.

When corrected for confounding factors, schizophrenia contributed to age at first assessment being 5.5 years younger (p = 0.0001 Cohen's D = 1.0) than in people free from schizophrenia. Its effect on age at first assessment was second only to smoking. People suffering from schizophrenia also required a higher level of care (long-term care facility rather than home care). People suffering from schizophrenia had significantly higher rates of diabetes mellitus and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease but otherwise had lower rates of comorbidity than people free from schizophrenia who required care.

Aging with schizophrenia is associated with needing increased social care at a younger age. This has implications for social spending and developing policies to decrease frailty in this population.