Data supporting the experiences
The quantitative study analysed electronic health records across the UK from secondary mental healthcare from 2007 to 2021 to explore long-term trends in the risk of death of people with severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorders.
Published in Psychological Medicine, the research analysed records from 22,361 people which showed that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, people with severe mental health conditions were already twice as likely to die from any cause compared to the general population. After the pandemic started in 2020, mortality risk increased further.
Compared to prior to the pandemic, Black Caribbean and Black African people living with severe mental health conditions had a higher risk of death from any cause during 2020 to 2021, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The findings suggest that people living with certain combinations of conditions, for example schizophrenia with dementia or schizophrenia with intellectual disabilities, were at a substantially higher risk of death from COVID-19 during the early phases of the pandemic, compared to people living with schizophrenia alone.