health
Mentally ill more likely to have chronic conditions
Posted April 23, 2012
Adults who had a mental illness in the past year had higher rates of some chronic conditions than those with no mental illness, a report shows.
Adults 18 and older who had any mental illness in a year had higher rates of hypertension, asthma, diabetes, heart disease and stroke, said the report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (link). For example, 22% of adults with a mental illness had hypertension compared with 18% of Americans who did not experience a mental illness.
The report also shows differences in emergency department use and hospitalization rates. For example, 48% of adults with a serious mental illness in the past year used EDs compared with 31% of those who did not have such illnesses.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/04/23/hlbf0423.htm.
