TY - JOUR
T1 - Mortality in a Follow-up of 500 Psychiatric Outpatients
T2 - II. Cause-Specific Mortality
AU - Martin, Ronald L.
AU - Cloninger, C. Robert
AU - Guze, Samuel B.
AU - Clayton, Paula J.
PY - 1985/1
Y1 - 1985/1
N2 - In a six- to 12-year follow-up study of 500 psychiatric outpatients, death from natural causes occurred 11/3 times the expected rate, although the excess was not significant. Death from unnatural causes occurred 31/2 times the expected rate, a significant elevation. Suicide and homicide rates were particularly excessive. Unnatural mortality was excessive among younger, but not older, patients, and among all sex-race groups except black women, none of whom died unnaturally. Initial psychiatric diagnoses highly predictive of unnatural death included alcoholism, antisocial personality, drug addiction, and homosexuality. Secondary affective disorder was predictive of excess unnatural mortality, but in all cases of such death one of the four disorders associated with excess mortality antedated the affective disturbance. No patient with an index diagnosis of primary affective disorder died of an unnatural cause. Despite a frequent history of suicide attempts, hysteria was not associated with excess unnatural mortality.
AB - In a six- to 12-year follow-up study of 500 psychiatric outpatients, death from natural causes occurred 11/3 times the expected rate, although the excess was not significant. Death from unnatural causes occurred 31/2 times the expected rate, a significant elevation. Suicide and homicide rates were particularly excessive. Unnatural mortality was excessive among younger, but not older, patients, and among all sex-race groups except black women, none of whom died unnaturally. Initial psychiatric diagnoses highly predictive of unnatural death included alcoholism, antisocial personality, drug addiction, and homosexuality. Secondary affective disorder was predictive of excess unnatural mortality, but in all cases of such death one of the four disorders associated with excess mortality antedated the affective disturbance. No patient with an index diagnosis of primary affective disorder died of an unnatural cause. Despite a frequent history of suicide attempts, hysteria was not associated with excess unnatural mortality.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0022005281&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1001/archpsyc.1985.01790240060006
DO - 10.1001/archpsyc.1985.01790240060006
M3 - Article
C2 - 3966853
AN - SCOPUS:0022005281
SN - 0003-990X
VL - 42
SP - 58
EP - 66
JO - Archives of General Psychiatry
JF - Archives of General Psychiatry
IS - 1
ER -