Patients with mental illness have up to 20 years less life expectancy

This is a pivotal study which was published in 2011. The authors evaluated trends in health outcomes of people with seriousmental disorders. They examined nationwide 5-year consecutive cohorts ofpeople admitted to hospital for mental disorders in Denmark,Finland and Sweden in 1987–2006.

People with severe mental illness who were admitted to hospital had a two – threefold mortality than the general poulation. This mortality gap was more pronounced for men than for women. The gap decreased between 1987 and 2006 in these countries, especially for women. The exception was Swedish men with mental disorders. In spite of the positive general trend, men with mental disorders still live 20 years less, andwomen 15 years less, than the general population.