20-year follow-up study of physical morbidity and mortality in relationship to antipsychotic treatment in a nationwide cohort of 62,250 patients with schizophrenia (FIN20).

20-year follow-up study of physical morbidity and mortality in relationship to antipsychotic treatment in a nationwide cohort of 62,250 patients with schizophrenia (FIN20). World Psychiatry. 2020 Feb;19(1):61-68 Authors: Taipale H, Tanskanen A, Mehtälä J, Vattulainen P, Correll CU, Tiihonen J Abstract Antipsychotics are effective in preventing relapses of schizophrenia, but it is generally believed that their long-term use is harmful for patients' physical well-being. However, there are no long-term studies which have verified this view. This nationwide, register-based cohort study aimed to assess the risk of hospitalization due to physical health problems, as a marker for severe physical morbidity, and the risk of all-cause mortality, as well as of cardiovascular and suicidal death, associated with antipsychotic use in all patients treated for schizophrenia in inpatient care between 1972 and 2014 in Finland (N=62,250), with up to 20 years of follow-up (median: 14.1 years). The use of antipsychotic drugs (i.e., use of any antipsychotic compared with non-use) and the use of specific antipsychotics were investigated, and outcomes were somatic and cardiovascular hospitalization, and all-cause, cardiovascular and suicide death. Hospitalization-based outcomes were analyzed by a within-individual design to eliminate selection bias, comparing use and non-use periods in the same individual by stratified Cox model. Mortality outcomes were a...
Source: World Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: World Psychiatry Source Type: research