A new study led by a University of Michigan researcher suggests that youth mental disorders could put later-life physical health at risk.
Leah Richmond-Rakerd, a psychology assistant professor at the University of Michigan, together with her colleagues, published their findings in the journal JAMA Network Open, January 13. Their study details how early in life, people who had psychiatric conditions are more likely to experience additional age-related physical illnesses later in life.
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 11: Stephen Fry attends a photocall to launch a new campaign 'Get It Off Your Chest' for mental health charity, Mind at Victoria Tower Gardens on May 11, 2009, in London, England.
A Thirty-Year Study
The UM-led study conducted a wide hospital-register study including 2.3 million people from New Zealand whose ages range from 10 to 60 years at baseline. Researchers followed three decades of these participants from 1988 to 2018, inquiring whether those who reported having mental health problems actually faced increased risks of chronic physical diseases and premature death. After the 30-year data gathering, researchers analyzed the data from July 2019 to November 2020.
In the introduction for their paper, researchers noted "two global trends" that challenge the younger generation's well-being. First is the changing dynamics in demographic traits, such as longer expectancy and having fewer children. The second is the shift in workforce expectations, with the increased education expectation for young people looking to join the workforce.
Researchers found that the association between conditions they are inquiring about cannot be explained by preexisting physical conditions, later ruling out the possibility of reverse causation where the physical disease predates and causes the mental health problem. Richmond-Rakerd noted that previous matters on the subject did not take this into account and that the association exists between various mental and physical disorders.
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They then gathered data about hospital admissions for mental health issues - substance use disorders, psychotic disorders, anxiety disorders, and self-harm incidents. Also, they gathered hospital admission data for different chronic physical diseases, including cancers and heart diseases.
Finding the Link Between Early-Age Mental Health and Late-Age Physical Health
Over the three-decade period, researchers found that persons who experienced mental disorders had greater risks of developing physical illnesses. Additionally, they also found that people with mental disorders tend to die earlier than those who did not. These people also recorded more medical hospitalizations and more time in hospitals - accumulating increased health care costs. These trends were found across all age groups, both in men and women.
Richmond-Rakerd explains that their findings illustrate the importance of addressing mental health problems early in life as a means of preventing future physical diseases in the future. Researchers also stressed the importance of integrated care, or joined and interconnected services, including mental and physical health care.
"Our health care system often divides treatment between the brain and the body," Richmond-Rakerd said, adding that integrating the two aspects benefit the overall health of a population.
Richmond-Rakerd also explained the choice for focusing on New Zealand for the study. She said that it was possible to link hospital admission registries and other relevant administrative databases for its entire population in the South Pacific nation.
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