The Characteristics of People with Serious Mental Illness Who are at High Risk for Hospitalization or Death

Alexander S Young; Jessica Skela; Prabha Siddarth

doi:10.1007/s10597-024-01281-8

The Characteristics of People with Serious Mental Illness Who are at High Risk for Hospitalization or Death

Community Ment Health J. 2024 Apr 23. doi: 10.1007/s10597-024-01281-8. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Alexander S Young^{1

2}, Jessica Skela³, Prabha Siddarth^{4

3}

Affiliations

¹ Desert Pacific Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center, Greater Los Angeles Veterans Healthcare System, 11301 Wilshire Blvd., 210A, Los Angeles, CA, USA. ayoung@ucla.edu.
² Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of California, 300 UCLA Medical Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, USA. ayoung@ucla.edu.
³ Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of California, 300 UCLA Medical Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁴ Desert Pacific Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center, Greater Los Angeles Veterans Healthcare System, 11301 Wilshire Blvd., 210A, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

PMID: 38653869
DOI: 10.1007/s10597-024-01281-8

Abstract

Many individuals with serious mental illness are at high risk for hospitalization or death due to inadequate treatment of medical conditions or unhealthy behaviors. The authors describe demographic and clinical characteristics associated with increased risk in this population. Electronic data were obtained for individuals in treatment at a large Veterans' healthcare system who were at high risk according to a validated model. A random sample of these individuals was assessed in person. Multivariable regressions estimated the effect of numerous demographic, health, and clinical characteristics on risk. Emergency visits and hospitalizations were common. Greater risk was associated with being male, not married, and having more diagnoses. While risk varied by race, this effect was no longer significant after controlling for other factors. Health-related quality of life worsened with increasing risk. Routine data identify a large population of high-risk individuals who may benefit from outreach to provide healthcare services.

Keywords: Community psychiatry; Hospitalization; Medical morbidity and mortality; Psychoses; Public health; Risk prediction; Serious mental illness.

Abstract

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