psychiatric illness and physical disease co-morbidity: a pilot study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Psychiatric illness and physical chronic disease co-morbidity in Scotland: a feasibility and pilot study
IRAS ID
211960
Contact name
Caroline A Jackson
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 31 days
Research summary
Can we use routinely collected health data to define groups of patients with psychiatric illness in Scotland and what is the frequency of co-existing psychiatric illness and physical chronic diseases?
Multimorbidity (the co-existence of multiple chronic conditions) is a major global public health problem. In Scotland a substantial proportion of multimorbidity is comprised of co-existing chronic mental health and physical health diseases. However, the interplay between mental and physical disease remains poorly understood. There is a need to better understand the relationship between specific mental health conditions and the occurrence and outcomes of key physical chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Fully anonymised national population-level health data that are routinely collected in Scotland provide a potentially useful source to address gaps in our understanding. However, these national linked resources have been little used in this particular area of research and so feasibility studies are needed to determine whether they are sufficiently robust to support this research. In this feasibility study we will explore the usefulness and comprehensiveness of different approaches for identifying people with psychiatric illness using overlapping routinely collected administrative health data sources (including hospital admissions and prescription data). We will also determine the occurrence of key physical diseases among people with psychiatric illness. This project also lays the foundations for subsequent planned research, including studies of the effect of co-morbid psychiatric illness on physical chronic disease outcomes and complications. In turn, such research may potentially inform intervention strategies or policies to provide better care for the physical health of mentally ill patients as well as directing further research in this area. Ultimately, results will be used to improve the physical health of people with mental illness. This one-year project is funded by a joint Wellcome Trust-University of Edinburgh Institutional Strategic Support Fund award.
REC name
South East Scotland REC 02
REC reference
16/SS/0152
Date of REC Opinion
22 Aug 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion