Sociodemographic Characteristics and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Patients With Severe Mental Disorders Compared With the General Population

Astrid B. Birkenaes, M.D.; Anne J. Søgaard, Ph.D.; John A. Engh, M.D.; Halldora Jonsdottir, M.D.; P. Andreas Ringen, M.D.; Anja Vaskinn, Psy.D.; Svein Friis, M.D., Ph.D.; Kjetil Sundet, Ph.D.; Stein Opjordsmoen, M.D., Ph.D.; and Ole A. Andreassen, M.D. Ph.D.

Objective: To study the prevalence and distribution of cardiovascular risk factors in a group of patients with severe mental disorders compared with the general population and investigate if differences in sociodemographic background variables between groups were associated with differences in risk profile.

Method: We compared data from the ongoing Ulleval 600 Study (205 pharmacologically stable outpatients with DSM-IV psychotic disorders) with data from the 2000-2001 Oslo Health Study (18,770 individuals from the general population of the same area). Subjects were stratified according to age and gender and compared for ethnic background, level of education, marital status, and prevalence of risk factors.

Results: Patients had an overall prevalence of smoking, obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes mellitus about twice that of the reference group. Patients aged 18 through 50 years had the highest level of risk factors when compared with the general population. There was no major difference in ethnic background or educational level between cohorts.

Conclusion: The increased cardiovascular risk profile in patients is particularly pronounced in young individuals and could not be explained by sociodemographic variables alone.

(J Clin Psychiatry 2006;67:425-433)

Received Sept. 21, 2005; accepted Oct. 19, 2005. From the Department of Psychiatry, Ulleval University Hospital and University of Oslo (Drs. Birkenaes, Engh, Jonsdottir, Ringen, Vaskinn, Friis, Opjordsmoen, and Andreassen); the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and the Department of General Practice and Community Medicine, University of Oslo (Dr. Søgaard); and the Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Oslo (Dr. Sundet), Oslo, Norway.

The study was financially supported by a grant from the Norwegian Research Council, Oslo (no. 147787/320) and a grant from the Solveig and Johan P. Sommers Foundation, Oslo, Norway. The data collection for the reference population (The Oslo Health Study) was conducted in collaboration with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. All blood sample analyses were performed at the Department of Clinical Chemistry, Ulleval University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.

Financial disclosure appears at the end of the article.

The authors thank Torleif Ruud, M.D., Ph.D., SINTEF Health Research, Oslo, Norway, and Frode Larsen, M.D., Ph.D., Ulleval University Hospital, Oslo, Norway, for contributions to data collection in the Ulleval 600 study and Kåre I. Birkeland, M.D., Ph.D., University of Oslo and Aker University Hospital, Oslo, Norway, and Sverre Landaas, M.D., Ph.D., Ulleval University Hospital, Oslo, Norway, for expert advice.

Corresponding author and reprints: Astrid B. Birkenaes, M.D., Department of Psychiatry, University Unit, Ulleval University Hospital, 0407 Oslo, Norway (e-mail: a.b.birkenas@medisin.uio.no).