People With Severe Mental Illness More Likely To Have Physical Health Comorbidities

People with severe mental illness (SMI), such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, are up to four times more likely to have two or more chronic physical health conditions. A total of one in seven people with SMI also have two or more additional psychiatric conditions. These illnesses reduce life expectancy by 10 to 20 years on average, which is driven by the significant physical and psychological health challenges people with severe mental illness face.

The ratio of chronic physical health conditions was higher in younger SMI populations (40 years of age or less, at 3.99 odds ratio), compared with . . .