Screening for Metabolic Risk Among Patients with Severe Mental Illness and Diabetes: a National Comparison

Objective: People with severe mental illness have a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease and die sooner than the general population. This study of a national sample of primary care patients in the United Kingdom compared screening for cardiometabolic risk factors among patients with severe mental illness and diabetes.

Methods: Screening for cardiovascular disease among 2,488,948 patients with diabetes (2010-2011) and 422,966 patients with severe mental illness (2011-2012) at 8,123 primary care practices was compared.

Results: The percentage of patients who received screening across four parameters (body mass index, blood pressure, blood glucose, and cholesterol) in the previous 15 months was higher among patients with diabetes than among those with severe mental illness (97.3% versus 74.7%, p<.001).

Conclusions: The proportion of patients in primary care who were given screening for cardiometabolic risk was much lower among those with severe mental illness than among those with diabetes.