Individuals With Severe Mental Illnesses Are Nearly Twice As Likely To Have Physical Multimorbidity

Worldwide, people with severe mental illness (SMI), such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or depression with psychosis are 84% more likely to have physical multimorbidity than people without SMI. The most common associated conditions were metabolic diseases such as diabetes and obesity; hypertension; epilepsy; respiratory, vascular, kidney, and gastrointestinal diseases; and cancer.

The higher prevalence was identified in a literature review of 19 studies that reported an association between SMI and 12 comorbid physical health conditions. Across the 19 studies, the prevalence of comorbid health conditions among people with SMI ranged as follows:

Diabetes: 2.2% to 32.1%

Obesity: 2 . . .