Researchers from the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) analyzed work stoppages related to mental disorders of 15,800 volunteers. They compared them to hospitalization rates due to myocardial infarctions, strokes and cancers.
The results of this study reveal that people who had a work stoppage for mental disorders (about 14% of participants) had, compared to the others, a 20% higher risk of being hospitalized for causes unrelated to mental disorders. The excess risk of hospitalization for myocardial infarction was 44% and that for stroke 37%. On the other hand, there is no difference between the two groups for cancer.
“We know that individuals with mental illness are more vulnerable and have more risk factors, particularly cardiovascular. For example, they are more likely to smoke, to have higher rates of treated and untreated pathologies: cardiac, respiratory, endocrine and metabolic. This is why we took into account in our analyzes age, sex, socio-economic and marital status, lifestyle, perceived state of health and somatic illnesses. And the results are independent of these factors,” explains Marine Azevedo Da Silva, researcher at the Center for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health.
An increased risk due to poorly adapted treatment
The high rate of hospitalization of patients with mental disorders is due to poorly adapted patient care. Health professionals would be too focused on the psychological problems of patients instead of carrying out a more general medical consultation.
“It is possible that the care of these people is poorly adapted. On the one hand because people suffering from mental illness have more difficulty than others in expressing or describing their health problems and symptoms. On the other hand, because it is possible that health professionals focus on mental health problems that require a great deal of investment, neglecting other health problems,” says the researcher.
“Mental and somatic health professionals must work together in order to offer comprehensive care to people with mental disorders,” concludes the researcher.
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