Symptom Profile in Serious Mental Illness and Adverse Health Outcomes

People with serious mental illness such as schizophrenia suffer from substantially higher levels of early deaths and physical illness than the general population. To date, little information is available about factors that determine the chances of experiencing adverse outcomes such as high levels of hospital admissions, longer hospital stays and deaths. This study aims to identify symptoms that may be present more commonly among patients with adverse outcomes and thereby potentially help identify preventive measures for those at particular risk. The study also investigates the hypothesis that patients with schizophrenia presenting with negative or positive symptoms are at greater risk of deaths.