Increased risk of COVID ‐19 infection and mortality in people with mental disorders: analysis from electronic health records in the United States

Concerns have been expressed that persons with a pre-existing mental disorder may represent a population at increased risk for COVID-19 infec-tion and with a higher likelihood of adverse outcomes of the infection, but there is no systematic research evidence in this respect. This study assessed the impact of a recent (within past year) diagnosis of a mental disorder - including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, depression and schizophrenia - on the risk for COVID-19 infection and related mortality and hospitalization rates. We analyzed a nation-wide database of electronic health records of 61 million adult patients from 360 hospitals and 317,000 providers, across 50 states in…

• AC
  American Cancer Society
• NI
  National Institutes of Health
• CA
  Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative of Cleveland, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University
• NI
  National Institute on Aging