Strategies to deal with comorbid physical illness in psychosis

Collaboration between Psychiatrists and Other Allied Medical Specialists for the Treatment of Delusional Disorders

BACKGROUND

There is increasing evidence that individuals with psychosis are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and several other medical comorbidities. In delusional disorder (DD), this is particularly so because of the relatively late onset age.

AIMS

The aim of this narrative review is to synthesize the literature on the necessity for medical collaboration between psychiatrists and other specialists.

METHODS

A non-systematic narrative review was carried out of papers addressing referrals and cooperation among specialists in the care of DD patients.

RESULTS

Psychiatrists, the primary care providers for DD patients, depend on neurology to assess cognitive defects and rule out organic sources of delusions. Neurologists rely on psychiatry to help with patient adherence to treatment and the management of psychotropic drug side effects. Psychiatrists require ophthalmology/otolaryngology to treat sensory deficits that often precede delusions; reciprocally, psychiatric consults can help in instances of functional sensory impairment. Close collaboration with dermatologists is essential for treating delusional parasitosis and dysmorphophobia to ensure timely referrals to psychiatry.

CONCLUSIONS

This review offers many other examples from the literature of the extent of overlap among medical specialties in the evaluation and effective treatment of DD. Optimal patient care requires close collaboration among specialties.

Polygenic risk score for schizophrenia was not associated with glycemic level (HbA1c) in patients with non-affective psychosis: Genetic Risk and Outcome of Psychosis (GROUP) cohort study

INTRODUCTION

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a common comorbidity in patients with schizophrenia (SCZ). The underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms are yet to be fully elucidated, although it can be argued that shared genes, environmental factors or their interaction effect are involved. This study investigated the association between polygenic risk score of SCZ (PRS_SCZ) and glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) while adjusting for polygenic risk score of T2D (PRS_T2D), and clinical and demographic covariables.

METHODS

Genotype, clinical and demographic data of 1129 patients with non-affective psychosis were extracted from Genetic Risk and Outcome of Psychosis (GROUP) cohort study. The glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) was the outcome. PRS was calculated using standard methods. Univariable and multivariable linear regression analyses were applied to estimate associations. Additionally, sensitivity analysis based on multiple imputation was done. After correction for multiple testing, a two-sided p-value ≤.003 was considered to discover evidence for an association.

RESULTS

Of 1129 patients, 75.8% were male with median age of 29 years. The mean (standard deviation) HbA1c level was 35.1 (5.9) mmol/mol. There was no evidence for an association between high HbA1c level and increased PRS_SCZ (adjusted regression coefficient (aβ) = 0.69, standard error (SE) = 0.77, p-value = .37). On the other hand, there was evidence for an association between high HbA1c level and increased PRS_T2D (aβ = 0.93, SE = 0.32, p-value = .004), body mass index (aβ = 0.20, SE = 0.08, p-value = .01), diastolic blood pressure (aβ = 0.08, SE = 0.04, p-value = .03), late age of first psychosis onset (aβ = 0.19, SE = 0.05, p-value = .0004) and male gender (aβ = 1.58, SE = 0.81, p-value = .05). After multiple testing correction, there was evidence for an association between high HbA1c level and late age of first psychosis onset. Evidence for interaction effect between PRS_scz and antipsychotics was not observed. The multiple imputation-based sensitivity analysis provided consistent results with complete case analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

Glycemic dysregulation in patients with SCZ was not associated with PRS_SCZ. This suggests that the mechanisms of hyperglycemia or diabetes are at least partly independent from genetic predisposition to SCZ. Our findings show that the change in HbA1c level can be caused by at least in part due to PRS_T2D, late age of illness onset, male gender, and increased body mass index and diastolic blood pressure.

Physical Comorbidities are Independently Associated with Higher Rates of Psychiatric Readmission in a Chinese Han Population

BACKGROUND

In people with psychosis, physical comorbidities are highly widespread and leading contributors to the untimely death encountered. Readmission rates in psychiatric patients are very high. Somatic comorbidities could be one of the considerable risk factors for psychiatric rehospitalization. Nevertheless, much less is known about the relation between physical comorbidities and psychiatric readmission. We aimed to investigate the association between physical comorbidities and psychiatric readmission in Han Chinese patients with psychiatric disorders.

METHODS

We used administrative data for January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2018 from the headquarters of the Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University to identify adults with schizophrenia, unipolar depression or bipolar disorder discharged from hospital. Data were extracted on sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. The Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) was used to assess the existence of significant physical comorbidity. Cox proportional hazards regression estimated rehospitalization risk after discharge.

RESULTS

A total of 15,620 individuals were included in this study, with the mean age of 35.1 years (SD = 12.8), and readmission occurred for 23.6% of participants. Survival analysis showed that physical comorbidities were statistically and significantly associated with psychiatric readmission, even after the adjustment for the number of psychiatric comorbidities, other sociodemographic and clinical variables.

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest that somatic comorbidities are related with higher rates of psychiatric readmission. Hence, to treat psychosis more effectively and to reduce rehospitalization, it is crucial to treat physical comorbidities promptly and adequately. It is absolutely necessary to bring somatic comorbidities to the forefront of psychiatric treatment and research.

Prospective associations of physical fitness and cognitive performance among inpatients with Schizophrenia

There is a paucity of longitudinal research investigating fitness and cognitive performance in people with schizophrenia. This study examined the prospective associations of physical fitness and cognitive performance among inpatients with schizophrenia. A prospective cohort study over two years was undertaken in 190 inpatients with schizophrenia. Four domains of physical fitness (body composition, muscle endurance, flexibility, and cardiovascular fitness) were measured at baseline in addition to the cognitive domains of attention, hand dexterity and working memory. At baseline, compared to general population normative data, more than one third of the sample had poor cardiovascular fitness, and over half were overweight/obese, had poor muscular fitness and poor flexibility. In the schizophrenia sample, better cardiovascular fitness at baseline was significantly associated with better attention, dexterity, and memory. However, the relationships dissipated after adjusting for baseline cognitive scores. In the final models, aside from baseline cognitive scores, only illness duration was significantly associated with dexterity, and smoking status and duration of hospitilization were associated with working memory. Our data suggest that in a cohort of people with established schizophrenia who already had evidence of cognitive dysfunction, better physical fitness was not associated with improved cognitive performance over two years.

Increased cardiovascular mortality in people with schizophrenia: a 24-year national register study

AimsPeople who have schizophrenia die earlier from somatic diseases than do people in the general population, but information about cardiovascular deaths in people who have schizophrenia is limited. We analysed mortality in all age groups of people with schizophrenia by specific cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), focusing on five CVD diagnoses: coronary heart disease, acute myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular disease, heart failure and cardiac arrhythmias. We also compared hospital admissions for CVDs in people who had schizophrenia with hospital admissions for CVDs in the general population.

METHODS

This national register study of 10 631 817 people in Sweden included 46 911 people who were admitted to the hospital for schizophrenia between 1 January 1987 and 31 December 2010. Information from national registers was used to identify people who had schizophrenia and obtain data about mortality, causes of death, medical diagnoses and hospitalisations.

RESULTS

CVDs were the leading cause of death in people who had schizophrenia (5245 deaths), and CVDs caused more excess deaths than suicide. The mean age of CVD death was 10 years lower for people who had schizophrenia (70.5 years) than the general population (80.7 years). The mortality rate ratio (MRR) for CVDs in all people who had schizophrenia was 2.80 (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.73-2.88). In people aged 15-59 years who had schizophrenia, the MRR for CVDs was 6.16 (95% CI 5.79-6.54). In all people who had schizophrenia, the MRR for coronary heart disease was 2.83 (95% CI 2.73-2.94); acute myocardial infarction, 2.62 (95% CI 2.49-2.75); cerebrovascular disease, 2.4 (95% CI 2.25-2.55); heart failure, 3.25 (95% CI 2.94-3.6); and cardiac arrhythmias, 2.06 (95% CI 1.75-2.43). Hospital admissions for coronary heart disease were less frequent in people who had schizophrenia than in the general population (admission rate ratio, 0.88 (95% CI 0.83-0.94). In all age groups, survival after hospital admission for CVD was lower in people who had schizophrenia than in the general population.

CONCLUSIONS

People who had schizophrenia died 10 years earlier from CVDs than did people in the general population. For all five CVD diagnoses, mortality risk was higher for those with schizophrenia than those in the general population. Survival after hospitalisation for CVDs in people who had schizophrenia was comparable with that of people in the general population who were several decades older.

Mortality, morbidity and medical resources utilization of patients with schizophrenia: A case-control community-based study

Patients with schizophrenia have higher level of mortality and physical comorbidity compared to control population. However the association to primary-, secondary- and tertiary-medical resources utilization is not clear. We used a retrospective community-based cohort of patients with schizophrenia (n=1389; age 37.53 years, 64.3% males) and, age-, gender-, and socioeconomic status-matched controls (n=4095; age 37.34 years; 64.3% males) who were followed-up for nine years. Mortality rate of patients was almost twice as high as that of matched controls (7% versus 3.8%). Diagnoses of ischemic heart disease and hypertension were more prevalent among controls than patients (8.2% versus 5%, and 21.6% versus 15.8%, respectively). Tertiary medical resources utilization was higher among patients with schizophrenia than control population (mean hospital admissions per year: 0.2 versus 0.12, emergency department visits: 0.48 versus 0.36). Patients that died were more likely to have cardiovascular disease, to be admitted to general hospital and to spend more days in hospital than patients that did not die. There is a discrepancy between lower rates of cardiovascular disease diagnoses but higher rates of mortality and tertiary medical resources utilization among patients with schizophrenia when compared to control population. This may stem from an under-diagnosis and, eventually, under-treatment of these patients.

Peer support interventions seeking to improve physical health and lifestyle behaviours among people with serious mental illness: A systematic review

People with serious mental illness (SMI) experience a premature mortality gap of between 10 and 20 years. Interest is growing in the potential for peer support interventions (PSI) to improve the physical health of people with SMI. We conducted a systematic review investigating if PSI can improve the physical health, lifestyle factors, and physical health appointment attendance among people with SMI. A systematic search of major electronic databases was conducted from inception until February 2016 for any article investigating PSI seeking to improve physical health, lifestyle, or physical health appointment attendance. From 1347 initial hits, seven articles were eligible, including three pilot randomized, control trials (interventions: n = 85, controls: n = 81), and four pretest and post-test studies (n = 54). There was considerable heterogeneity in the type of PSI, and the role of the peer support workers (PSW) varied considerably. Three studies found that PSI resulted in insignificant reductions in weight. Evidence from three studies considering the impact of PSI on lifestyle changes was equivocal, with only one study demonstrating that PSI improved self-report physical activity and diet. Evidence regarding physical health appointment attendance was also unclear across four studies. In conclusion, there is inconsistent evidence to support the use of PSW to improve the physical health and promote lifestyle change among people with SMI. The small sample sizes, heterogeneity of interventions, outcome measures, and lack of clarity about the unique contribution of PSW means no definitive conclusions can be made about the benefits of PSW and physical health in SMI.

Physical multimorbidity and psychosis: comprehensive cross sectional analysis including 242,952 people across 48 low- and middle-income countries

BACKGROUND

In people with psychosis, physical comorbidities, including cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, are highly prevalent and leading contributors to the premature mortality encountered. However, little is known about physical health multimorbidity in this population or in people with subclinical psychosis and in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This study explores physical health multimorbidity patterns among people with psychosis or subclinical psychosis.

METHODS

Overall, data from 242,952 individuals from 48 LMICs, recruited via the World Health Survey, were included in this cross-sectional study. Participants were subdivided into those (1) with a lifetime diagnosis of psychosis ("psychosis"); (2) with more than one psychotic symptom in the past 12 months, but no lifetime diagnosis of psychosis ("subclinical psychosis"); and (3) without psychotic symptoms in the past 12 months or a lifetime diagnosis of psychosis ("controls"). Nine operationalized somatic disorders were examined: arthritis, angina pectoris, asthma, diabetes, chronic back pain, visual impairment, hearing problems, edentulism, and tuberculosis. The association between psychosis and multimorbidity was assessed by multivariable logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

The prevalence of multimorbidity (i.e., two or more physical health conditions) was: controls = 11.4% (95% CI, 11.0-11.8%); subclinical psychosis = 21.8% (95% CI, 20.6-23.0%), and psychosis = 36.0% (95% CI, 32.1-40.2%) (P < 0.0001). After adjustment for age, sex, education, country-wise wealth, and country, subclinical psychosis and psychosis were associated with 2.20 (95% CI, 2.02-2.39) and 4.05 (95% CI, 3.25-5.04) times higher odds for multimorbidity. Moreover, multimorbidity was increased in subclinical and established psychosis in all age ranges (18-44, 45-64, ≥ 65 years). However, multimorbidity was most evident in younger age groups, with people aged 18-44 years with psychosis at greatest odds of physical health multimorbidity (OR = 4.68; 95% CI, 3.46-6.32).

CONCLUSIONS

This large multinational study demonstrates that physical health multimorbidity is increased across the psychosis-spectrum. Most notably, the association between multimorbidity and psychosis was stronger among younger adults, thus adding further impetus to the calls for the early intervention efforts to prevent the burden of physical health comorbidity at later stages. Urgent public health interventions are necessary not only for those with a psychosis diagnosis, but also for subclinical psychosis to address this considerable public health problem.