People with schizophrenia may face a higher risk for severe COVID-19, a new study suggested.
Compared with COVID-19 patients without a psychiatric disorder, those previously diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorder had more than a two times higher risk for mortality within 45 days of a confirmed case (odds ratio 2.67, 95% CI 1.48-4.80), reported Katlyn Nemani, MD, of New York University Langone Medical Center in New York, and colleagues.
This association was significant even after adjusting for medical risk factors including smoking status, hypertension, heart failure (HF), myocardial infarction, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cancer, they wrote in
However, people with other mood disorders (OR 1.14, 95% CI 0.87-1.49) or anxiety disorders (OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.65-1.41) didn t see any increased risk of COVID-related mortality, according to the authors.
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People with schizophrenia, a mental disorder that affects mood and perception of reality, are almost three times more likely to die from the coronavirus than those without the psychiatric illness, a new study shows. Their higher risk, the investigators say, cannot be explained by other factors that often accompany serious mental health disorders, such as higher rates of heart disease, diabetes, and smoking.
Led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the investigation showed that schizophrenia is by far the biggest risk factor (2.7 times increased odds of dying) after age (being 75 or older increased the odds of dying 35.7 times). Male sex, heart disease, and race ranked next after schizophrenia in order.