This mental illness was the 2nd biggest risk factor for dying from COVID, study finds

A study on more than 7,000 coronavirus patients found that people diagnosed with schizophrenia were 2.7 times more likely to die from COVID-19 compared to people without the disorder and those with anxiety or mood conditions.

Schizophrenia ranked second only to age when bracketed with diabetes, heart failure, sex, chronic kidney disease and smoking status, among other known mortality risk factors for COVID-19.

It’s a mental illness involving hallucinations, delusions and disordered thinking that usually impairs daily life. People with the disorder die eight years earlier than people without the disorder, on average, and face a three times greater risk of dying each year, past research has found. About 3.5 million people in the U.S. are diagnosed with schizophrenia, making it one of the leading causes of disability.

The researchers say their study is the first to report risks of death for COVID-19 by psychiatric diagnoses, and is one that can guide clinical decision making, initiate extra protective measures and inform the distribution of limited resources such as vaccines for this demographic.

Over 45 days, the team studied 7,348 adult COVID-19 patients who were part of the New York University Langone Health System, which comprises more than 260 outpatient sites and four acute care hospitals across the state. Patients received their coronavirus diagnosis between March and May 2020.

They were separated into four groups: those with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders or no psychiatric conditions. The patients’ average age was 54.

Of the study participants, 75 had a history of schizophrenia, 564 had a history of mood disorder and 360 had a history of anxiety disorder — 864 patients overall died or were discharged to hospice within 45 days of testing positive.

Even after adjusting for additional risk factors such as age, sex, race and other medical conditions, schizophrenia was one of the top tier killers behind older age. Mood and anxiety disorders were not associated with increased risk of mortality.

In comparison, risks of dying from COVID-19 were about 3.9 times higher for people between 45-54, about 7.8 times higher for those between 55-64, about 16.5 times higher for individuals between 65-74 and about 35.7 times higher for adults older than 75 — a risk that doubled every 10 years of age.

On the other hand, risks of dying from COVID-19 were about 1.7 times higher for men, about 1.6 times higher for people with heart failure, about 1.3 times higher for those with diabetes and about 1.4 times higher for adults with high blood pressure.

The study was conducted during the peak of coronavirus surges in New York City and limited to patients who were treated within the NYU health care system, which may have interfered with its findings, the researchers said.

Medications used to treat schizophrenia during a patients’ run with COVID-19 were also not assessed, they added, which “may have been associated with either harmful or protective effects.”

Genetic, environmental and socioeconomic factors may play a role

Past research has shown that variations in genes and T cells — immune system soldiers that search and destroy invaders such as the coronavirus — may weaken the immune systems of people with the disorder.

Certain inflammatory responses in the body also don’t occur as they normally should in patients with schizophrenia, some studies show, “which may increase COVID-19 severity and mortality,” the researchers said.

The World Health Organization says that individuals with schizophrenia may be more susceptible to other medical conditions because of the medications they take, which can lead to weight gain.

This is why they are two to three times more likely to have diabetes than the general public, as well as heart disease.

People with schizophrenia are also at higher risk for tuberculosis because of histories of “substance abuse, poor nutrition, homelessness or previous time spent in an institution or prison,” the WHO says.

Each additional health condition people with the disorder have increases their chances of getting seriously ill or dying from COVID-19.