RESEARCH WEEKLY: September Research Roundup
By Elizabeth Sinclair Hancq
Research Roundup is a monthly public service of the Office of Research and Public Affairs. Each edition describes a striking new data point about severe mental illness and summarizes recently published research reports or developments.
DATAPOINT of the month
34–100,000 individuals who have died every year in the United States whose bodies are unclaimed
According to a scathing investigative report published in the Washington Post earlier this month, tens of thousands of individuals die in the United States every year with no one claiming their bodies. Unclaimed bodies are different than unidentified, the article explains. Unclaimed bodies are most often the result of the family of the deceased declining to take responsibility. A common reason this occurs is “a struggle with severe depression, drug abuse or some other mental health disorder that went untreated and shattered the family,” according to the article.
For the article, Washington Post reporters Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan profiled a woman with schizophrenia who died in December 2020 due to an overdose of fentanyl. Her living relatives included two adult daughters who felt the mental health system failed them after years of trying to get their mother help. The daughters failed to claim their mother’s body even after being notified of her death, not because they didn’t love her, they said, but because they could not afford the travel and burial expenses after so many years of supporting her.
RESEARCH of the month
Lifetime suicide risk in Medicare patients with schizophrenia
Adults with schizophrenia have a higher risk for suicide than individuals from the general population. How suicide risk changes over an individual’s life course is not as well studied due to research methodological challenges.
Using five cohorts of individuals with schizophrenia in the Medicare program from 2006 to 2016, totaling 668,836 individuals, researchers from Columbia University examined the risk of suicide across an individual’s lifespan. The results of their study, published last May in JAMA Psychiatry, suggests that suicide risk is highest in individuals with schizophrenia aged 18 to 34 years old. In young adults, suicide risk increased for those who had a recent history of self-harm as well as those with a co-occurring substance use disorder.
High rates of suicide among individuals with major depressive disorder
A meta-analysis is a type of research study that combines data from a systematic review of published research literature on a particular topic, combining multiple data sources together. In a meta-analysis published earlier this year in Psychological Medicine, researchers examined the rate of suicide among people with serious mental illness. They found that the pooled suicide rate was 312.8 per 100,000 person-years, or almost 313 suicide deaths per 100,000 individuals with serious mental illness for a given year period. The rate of suicide was highest among individuals with major depressive disorder.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals with serious mental illness in rural settings
There have been significant mental health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health measures. Researchers from White River Junction Veterans Affairs Medical Center sought to understand what the mental health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic may be on individuals with serious mental illness living in rural settings.
After conducting data collection and interviews with 11 people with serious mental illness before and after the stay-at-home orders, the researchers found no large differences in symptoms due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including feelings of hopelessness or suicidal ideation. The authors conclude that rural patients with serious mental illness may be resilient to the negative mental health effects of COVID-19 when they have the connection to the treatment and supports they need.
