The Prevalence of Multimorbidity among People with Non-Affective Psychotic Disorders 10-Years After First Diagnosis

Prior research suggests that people with psychotic disorders have an excess risk of individual chronic conditions, however less is known about their risk of co-occurring multiple chronic health conditions; that is, multimorbidity. The overall objective of this thesis was to examine the association between psychotic disorders and multimorbidity using two complementary studies. First, our systematic review and meta-analysis of fourteen studies found that people with psychotic disorders had an increased risk of 2+ chronic conditions relative to those without psychosis (RR=1.69, 95%CI=1.37,2.08). Second, our retrospective matched cohort study found that people with psychotic disorders treated by an early psychosis intervention program (n=439) may have a 26% higher prevalence of multimorbidity relative to people without psychosis (n=1,759), although our findings include the possibility of a null effect (PR=1.26, 95%CI=0.96,1.66). We suggest future research using larger sample sizes and longer follow-up periods to better understand the association between psychotic disorders and multimorbidity