Citation

Casadebaig F, Quemada N. Acta Psychiatr. Scand. 1989; 79(3): 257-264.

Affiliation

National Institute of Health and Medical Research, Le Vésinet, France.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1989, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

2711852

Abstract

The number of persons taken into psychiatric hospital care during 1982 in France was estimated using data on length of stay and analysing these by the person-year method. The number of observed deaths was compared by sex and age group with the number of deaths expected if the mortality in the general French population in 1982 were applied to the numbers of inpatients of the same sex and age group. The result of this comparison was that the mortality in mentally ill inpatients was found to be 3 times higher than that in the general population. This higher rate is further accentuated in younger age groups, especially women. This excess mortality has been observed with respect to natural causes of death as well as to unnatural causes, i.e. injury and suicide. Deaths from diseases of the circulatory system are overrepresented. As is true in the general population, these diseases account for the greatest number of deaths. Excess mortality is also high from diseases of the respiratory system. There is a high excess mortality due to signs, symptoms and ill-defined conditions, especially among women. Only in the case of neoplasms is there no excess mortality. Finally, excess mortality is found for deaths by injury and poisoning, especially for women, and suicides, particularly among men. Nevertheless, up to the age of 34, the female suicide rate is higher than that of men.

Language: en