Professor and Head Department of Psychiatry, Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute (Deemed University), Chennai 600116; Former Dean, Tamil Nadu Medical Service; Director, Institute of Mental Health; Professor and Head, Department of Psychiatry, Madras Medical College, Chennai.
Indian J Psychiatry. 2006 Apr;48(2):84-7. doi: 10.4103/0019-5545.31595.
Studies on standardized mortality rates of schizophrenic patients might help to increase the life span of these patients. Such data from developing countries including India are lacking. Investigations that provide clues regarding the quality of their family lives could also be beneficial.
Besides mortality and causes of death, this study was also aimed to examine the marital status of a group of schizophrenic patients over a period of 13 years.
Out of 121 schizophrenic patients recruited earlier for a different purpose, 60 were re-assessed after a period of 13 years with regard to their mortality and causes of death. The proportion of those who had to remain single because the onset of their illness was before they were 25 years of age were compared with those who had a later onset.
Seven deaths were recorded and the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) for all the age groups was 54.2. One patient who had absconded was not counted as a case of death. Furthermore, this trend of a high SMR persisted despite merging both the cohort and un-reassessed group (SMR 25.1) with and without known mortality. Among the deaths, the unnatural causes of death were noteworthy (28.57%)-1 accidental and another suicidal. Some deaths were probably due to poor general medical care. The proportion of patients who had to remain single because their onset of illness was before 25 years of age was significantly more than those with a later onset (p<0.001).
It is speculated that strengthening the general healthcare delivery system for the mentally ill and sensitizing caregivers about the possible risky behaviours of patients might reduce the mortality.
研究精神分裂症患者的标准化死亡率可能有助于延长这些患者的寿命。包括印度在内的发展中国家缺乏此类数据。开展调查以提供有关其家庭生活质量的线索也可能有益。
除了死亡率和死因外，本研究还旨在检查一组精神分裂症患者在 13 年内的婚姻状况。
在为不同目的招募的 121 名精神分裂症患者中，有 60 名在 13 年后重新评估了他们的死亡率和死因。将发病年龄在 25 岁之前的患者与发病较晚的患者的单身比例进行了比较。
记录了 7 例死亡，所有年龄组的标准化死亡率（SMR）为 54.2。一名潜逃的患者未被算作死亡病例。此外，尽管将队列和未重新评估的组（SMR 25.1）与已知的死亡率和无死亡率合并，这种高 SMR 的趋势仍然存在。在死亡中，非自然原因的死亡（28.57%）-1 例意外，另 1 例自杀，值得注意。有些死亡可能是由于一般医疗保健不佳所致。发病年龄在 25 岁之前的患者必须单身的比例明显高于发病较晚的患者（p<0.001）。
据推测，加强精神疾病患者的一般医疗保健提供系统，并使护理人员意识到患者可能存在的危险行为，可能会降低死亡率。
