Somatic Care with a Psychotic Disorder: Lower Somatic Health Care Utilization of Patients with a Psychotic Disorder Compared to Other Patient Groups and to Controls Without a Psychiatric Diagnosis

Abstract

Patients with non-affective psychotic disorders (NAPD) face higher risk of somatic problems and early natural death compared to the general population. Therefore, treatment guidelines for schizophrenia and psychosis stress the importance of monitoring somatic risk factors. This study examined somatic Health Care utilization (HCu) of patients with NAPD compared to non-psychiatric controls and patients with depression, anxiety or bipolar disorders using a large Health Insurance database. Results show lower specialist somatic HCu of patients with NAPD compared to matched controls and also lower percentages for prescribed somatic medication and general practitioner consultations for patients aged ≥60 years and after longer illness duration.