People with severe mental illnesses are more likely to die from infectious disease than the general population. For example, evidence suggests that people with severe mental illness are more likely to die from infections such as pneumonia, septicaemia and COVID-19. However little is known about the risk levels across other types of infection, or what the underlying factors are that might explain this increased risk of premature mortality.
This project will analyse data to answer a number of different questions about the complex interplay between severe mental illness, different types of infection and external factors:
The project will use anonymous national healthcare data, collected over more than 20 years, to examine the links between different mental illnesses and premature mortality caused by infectious diseases. This healthcare data will also allow for the assessment of several different factors relating to health inequalities, access to healthcare, and use of psychotropic medications.
This project will increase our understanding of premature death from infection in people with severe mental illness. Better understanding may lead to the development of preventative interventions and inform health policy, which, in turn, will improve the health of people with mental illness.
Dr Amy Ronaldson is a Research Associate in Statistics and Epidemiology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London.
She has a long-standing interest in applying advanced statistical techniques to large scale electronic health records in order to examine the links between mental and physical health conditions.
“Understanding how physical health impacts mental health, and vice versa is key for the development of a holistic view of health, the development of appropriate interventions, as well as the delivery of integrated healthcare.”
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