Lower Incidence of End-Stage Renal Disease but Suboptimal Pre-Dialysis Renal Care in Schizophrenia: A 14-Year Nationwide Cohort Study

Improving kidney care for people with severe mental health difficulties: A thematic analysis of personal and family members' perspectives

People with severe mental health difficulties (SMHDs) often have poorer access to kidney healthcare. To better understand the barriers and facilitators to kidney healthcare for this population, we conducted interviews with nine individuals with SMHDs and four family members. Through reflexive thematic analysis, we generated three themes: (1) 'One size doesn't fit all' describes the need for individualised kidney healthcare, adapted to meet the specific needs of each person with a SMHD. (2) 'You just can't say, "I'm only dealing with your kidney here"' describes how fragmentation of physical and mental healthcare services can lead to poorer outcomes for people with SMHDs, underscoring the need for coordinated care. (3) 'Just treat me with respect' describes the impact of healthcare provider attitudes. Overall, participants praised the dedication and kindness of renal clinicians. However, some participants also described experiences of stigma and discrimination, and called for additional education for healthcare providers regarding SMHDs.

Improving kidney care for people with severe mental health difficulties: a thematic analysis of twenty-two healthcare providers' perspectives

Introduction

People with severe mental health difficulties (SMHDs) and concurrent kidney disease have less access to quality kidney care and worse clinical outcomes. Our research investigates the barriers and facilitators to effective kidney care for people with SMHDs, and how care might be improved for this underserved population.

Methods

We conducted semi-structured interviews with twenty-two physical (n = 14) and mental (n = 8) healthcare professionals with experience working with people with SMHDs and concurrent kidney disease. Interview data were analysed and interpreted using reflexive thematic analysis.

Results

Four themes were generated from the data: 1. "It's about understanding their limitations and challenges, without limiting their rights" describes how some people with SMHDs need additional support when accessing kidney care due to challenges with their mental state, motivation, cognitive difficulties, or mistrust of the healthcare system. 2. "There are people falling through the cracks" describes how the separation of physical and mental healthcare, combined with under-resourcing and understaffing, results in poorer outcomes for people with SMHDs. 3. "Psychiatry is a black spot in our continuing medical education" describes how many renal healthcare providers have limited confidence in their understanding of mental health and their ability to provide care for people with SMHDs. 4. "When they present to a busy emergency department with a problem, the staff tend to go '…psych patient"" describes how stigma towards people with SMHDs can negatively impact quality of care.

Conclusion

Healthcare professionals accounts' describe how people with SMHDs and kidney disease can have favourable outcomes if they have appropriate hospital, community and social supports. Findings indicate that effective management of kidney disease for people with SMHDs requires integrated physical and mental health care, which takes an individualised "whole person" approach to addressing the interaction between kidney disease and mental health.

Chronic kidney disease and severe mental illness: a scoping review

BACKGROUND

People who have severe mental illness experience higher rates of long-term conditions and die on average 15-20 years earlier than people who do not have severe mental illness, a phenomenon known as the mortality gap. Long-term conditions, such as diabetes, impact health outcomes for people who have severe mental illness, however there is limited recognition of the relationship between chronic kidney disease and severe mental illness. Therefore, the aim of this scoping review was to explore the available evidence on the relationship between chronic kidney disease and severe mental illness.

METHODS

Electronic databases, including MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and PsycINFO were searched. The database searches were limited to articles published between January 2000-January 2022, due to significant progress that has been made in the detection, diagnosis and treatment of both SMI and CKD. Articles were eligible for inclusion if they explored the relationship between SMI and CKD (Stages 1-5) in terms of prevalence, risk factors, clinical outcomes, and access to treatment and services. Severe mental illness was defined as conditions that can present with psychosis, including schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, and other psychotic disorders. Thirty articles were included in the review.

RESULTS

The included studies illustrated that there is an increased risk of chronic kidney disease amongst people who have severe mental illness, compared to those who do not. However, people who have severe mental illness and chronic kidney disease are less likely to receive specialist nephrology care, are less likely to be evaluated for a transplant, and have higher rates of mortality.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, there is a dearth of literature in this area, but the available literature suggests there are significant health inequalities in kidney care amongst people who have severe mental illness. Further research is needed to understand the factors that contribute to this relationship, and to develop strategies to improve both clinical outcomes and access to kidney care.

Chronic Kidney Disease and Severe Mental Illness: Addressing Disparities in Access to Health Care and Health Outcomes

Individuals with severe mental illness, including conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, are at a higher risk of developing CKD. Higher incidences of CKD in this population can be partially explained by known risk factors, such as the use of lithium treatment and higher rates of cardiovascular disease. However, this does not fully explain the higher proportion of CKD in individuals with severe mental illness, and further research investigating the factors influencing disease onset and progression is needed. Similarly, although it is well documented that mental health difficulties, such as depression and anxiety, are highly prevalent among individuals with CKD, there is a lack of published data regarding the rates of severe mental illness in individuals with CKD. Furthermore, for individuals with CKD, having severe mental illness is associated with poor health outcomes, including higher mortality rates and higher rates of hospitalizations. Evidence also suggests that individuals with severe mental illness receive suboptimal kidney care, have fewer appointments with nephrologists, and are less likely to receive a kidney transplant. Limited research suggests that care might be improved through educating kidney health care staff regarding the needs of patients with severe mental illness and by facilitating closer collaboration with psychiatry. Further research investigating the rates of severe mental illness in patients with CKD, as well as the barriers and facilitators to effective care for this population, is clearly required to inform the provision of appropriate supports and to improve health outcomes for individuals with CKD and co-occurring severe mental illness.

End-of-life care in schizophrenia: a systematic review

OBJECTIVE

Schizophrenia is a severe and persistent mental illness with profound effects on patients, families, and communities. It causes immense suffering on personal, emotional, and socioeconomic levels. Individuals with schizophrenia have poorer health outcomes and die 10-20 years younger than the general population. Economic costs associated with schizophrenia are substantial and comprise 2.5% of healthcare expenditures worldwide. Despite psychosocioeconomic impacts, individuals with schizophrenia are subject to inequitable care, particularly at end of life. A systematic review was conducted to examine disparities in end-of-life care in schizophrenia and identify factors that can be targeted to enhance end-of-life care in this vulnerable population.

DESIGN

A comprehensive search was conducted using the databases Ovid MEDLINE(R), Ovid EMBASE, Ovid PsycINFO, Ovid Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Ovid Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Scopus from 2008-2018. Keywords included schizophrenia, palliative, end-of-life, and hospice. Two authors independently reviewed titles and abstracts; disagreements were resolved by consensus.

RESULTS

The search identified 123 articles; 33 met criteria: 13 case reports, 12 retrospective studies, 5 literature reviews, and 3 prospective studies. Articles were divided into major themes including healthcare disparities, ethics, and palliative care. Palliative care was the most frequent theme comprising >50% of the articles, and there was considerable thematic overlap with ethics and palliative care. Almost half the articles (45%) were related to schizophrenia and comorbid cancer.

CONCLUSIONS

Increased awareness of potential healthcare disparities in this population, creative approaches in multidisciplinary care, and provision of adequate palliative services and resources can enhance end-of-life care in schizophrenia.

A cross-sectional study on metabolic similarities and differences between inpatients with schizophrenia and those with mood disorders

BACKGROUND

One of the main causes of death in psychiatric patients is cardiovascular diseases which are closely related with lifestyle-related diseases. Psychiatric disorders include schizophrenia and mood disorders, whose symptoms and treatment medicines are different, suggesting that they might have different metabolic disorders. Thus, we studied the differences of lifestyle-related diseases between schizophrenia and mood disorders in Japan.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was performed from 2015 to 2017. Study participants were 189 Japanese hospitalized patients (144 schizophrenia group, 45 mood disorders group) in the department of psychiatry at Kohnodai hospital. We examined physical disorders, metabolic status of glucose and lipid, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and brain magnetic resonance imaging. We compared these data between schizophrenia and mood disorders groups using analysis of covariance or logistic regression analysis. In comparisons between inpatients with schizophrenia or mood disorders group and the standard, we quoted 'The National Health and Nutrition Survey in Japan 2015' by Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare as the standard.

RESULTS

eGFR and prevalence of smoking were significantly lower in patients with mood disorder group than those with schizophrenia group by adjustment for age. In comparisons between patients with schizophrenia group or mood disorders group and each standard, the ratio of silent brain infarction (SBI) and cerebral infarction were significantly high in both groups. Schizophrenia group showed significantly higher prevalence of diabetes, low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterolemia, metabolic syndrome and smoking than the standard. Mood disorders group had significantly high prevalence of low HDL-cholesterolemia compared with the standard. Fasting blood glucose and HbA1c were significantly higher in schizophrenia group and female mood disorders group than the standard. Female mood disorders group had significantly decreased eGFR with increased ratio of eGFR < 60 ml/min than the standard.

CONCLUSIONS

Participants of both groups had increased ratio of SBI and cerebral infarction, accompanied with glucose and lipid disorders. Compared with schizophrenia group, mood disorders group showed significantly low eGFR and prevalence of smoking.

Comparison of Elixhauser and Charlson Methods for Discriminative Performance in Mortality Risk in Patients with Schizophrenic Disorders

Although Charlson Comorbidity Index scores (CCIS) and Elixhauser comorbidity index scores (ECIS) have been used to assess comorbidity in patients with schizophrenia, only CCIS, not ECIS, have been used to predict mortality in this population. This nationwide retrospective study investigated discriminative performance of mortality of these two scales in patients with schizophrenia. Exploiting Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database (NHRID), we identified patients diagnosed with schizophrenia discharged from hospitals between Jan 1, 1996 and Dec 31, 2007. They were followed up for subsequent death. Comorbidities presented one year prior to hospital admissions were identified and adapted to the CCIS and ECIS. Discriminatory ability was evaluated using the adjusted hazard ratio and Akaike information criterion (AIC) and Harrell's C-statistic. We identified 58,771 discharged patients with schizophrenic disorders and followed them for a mean of 10.4 years, 16.6% of whom had died. Both ECIS and CCIS were significantly associated with mortality, but ECIS had superior discriminatory ability by a lower AIC and higher Harrell's C-statistic (201231 vs. 201400; 0.856 vs. 0.854, respectively). ECIS had better discriminative performance in mortality risk than CCIS in patients with schizophrenic disorders. Its use may be encouraged for risk adjustment in this population.

Chronic kidney disease in adults with schizophrenia: A nationwide population-based study

OBJECTIVE

Several studies have recently reported an association between chronic kidney disease (CKD) and schizophrenia, yet this association has not been sufficiently established. The aim of this study was to examine the association between schizophrenia and CKD in a large dataset, as well as to assess the level of accessibility of these patients to common treatments for CKD.

METHOD

Patients diagnosed with schizophrenia (n = 27,516) and an equal number of age and sex frequency-matched controls were included in this nationwide population-based study. Logistic regressions and ROC curves were employed to assess the association between schizophrenia and CKD and the level of fit of the models.

RESULTS

Schizophrenia was associated with CKD, after controlling for demographic, behavioral, and medical risk factors (OR = 1.62, CI 1.45-1.82, p < .0001). After adjusting for demographic and behavioral risk factors, CKD patients without schizophrenia were more likely to receive dialysis (OR = 1.70, 95% CI 1.18-2.44, p < .01) and kidney transplantation (OR = 5.43, 95% CI 2.84-10.38, p < .001) as compared to CKD patients with schizophrenia.

CONCLUSION

As CKD affects survival, quality of life, and medical and familial burden, additional thought should be given to detection of CKD, as well as to accessibility to treatment, among patients with schizophrenia.