People with psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia, are five times more likely to die from Covid-19 and three times more likely to be hospitalised according to new research by University of Manchester health data scientists.

The most detailed study to date examining COVID-19 outcomes in people with different diagnoses of severe mental illness in the UK is published today (7/12/21) in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

People with psychotic disorders showed 4.84 times higher odds of dying from COVID-19, compared to those without severe mental illness. The odds of dying from COVID-19 were 3.76 higher in people with bipolar disorder and 1.99 higher in people with major depressive disorder.

Among people with COVID-19, those with psychotic or bipolar disorders had the highest rates of infection leading to hospitalisation: 35.8% and 37.3% respectively, compared to 16.6% among with those without severe mental illness.

And among people with COVID-19 who were hospitalised, over half of those with psychotic disorders - 52.6% - did not survive compared to 37.5% among with those without severe mental illness.

The study was conducted in the UK Biobank, which is a large-scale biomedical database and research resource containing genetic, lifestyle and health information from half a million UK participants.

UK Biobanks database, which includes blood samples, heart and brain scans and genetic data of the 500,000 volunteer participants, is globally accessible to approved researchers who are undertaking health-related research thats in the public interest.

Of the individuals included in this study, 1,925 had a recorded history of schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders in their lifetime, 1,483 had bipolar disorder and 41,448 had major depressive disorder.

The samples were compared with 402,440 UK Biobank participants with no indicated history of these conditions.

UK Biobank participants were tracked from 31 January 2020, the first COVID-19 related death in the UK, until 28 February the next year.

A total of 16,282 people tested positive for COVID-19, while 2,885 were hospitalised and 1,081 died.

Though UK Biobank participants are now mostly over 65 years of age, and 95% white, the authors argue the results still have important implications for public health.

The higher rates of adverse COVID-19 outcomes among people with severe mental illness were partly linked to a range of factors including being male, belonging to an ethnic minority, older age and having certain respiratory and metabolic conditions.