People with severe mental disorders are at a high risk of dying from Covid-19, according to the study carried out by the researchers at Umeå University and Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.

Among the elderly, the proportion of deaths due to Covid-19 was almost four-fold for those with severe mental disorders compared to people not suffering with a mental disorder of the same age.

Martin Maripuu, associate professor at Umeå University, said: “We see a high excess mortality due to Covid-19 among the elderly with severe mental disorders, which gives us reason to consider whether this group should be given priority for vaccines.”

The researchers analysedthe entire Swedish population over the age of 20 during the period from 11 March to 15 June, 2020.

Among citizens with severe mental disorders, 130 people died from Covid-19 during this period, which corresponded to 0.1 per cent of the group. Among people who had not been diagnosed with a severe mental disorder, the mortality rate was almost halved, 0.06 percent.

Above all, after the age of 60, people with severe mental disorders had higher excess mortality compared with the those without a diagnosed mental disorder of the same age, the researchers wrote.

In the age group 60-79 years, death from Covid-19 was almost four times as common among people with severe mental disorders.

These disorders include patients with psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The study did not include depression or anxiety in the term, although the researchers mentioned that these conditions can also be severe.

“It might be that severe mental disorders can lead to premature biological ageing, that the disease impairs health and the immune system in general or that this group has other risk factors such as obesity. It is always important to address both, mental and physical health problems of people with these disorders,” added Maripuu.

In total, almost eight million individuals were considered for the study.

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