Research

Research suggests intervention reduces cardiovascular disease risk in people with serious mental illness

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New research performed at Sheppard Pratt in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Medicine suggests that an intervention program for people with serious mental illness can reduce their 10-year risk of having a heart attack or stroke by nearly 13%. 

“Over the years, I have known many patients with serious mental illness who have died prematurely of natural causes. The intervention that was studied in this trial, and found to be of benefit, offers hope that we may be able to reduce the cardiovascular risk, and hence the premature mortality, in this population,” said Faith Dickerson, PhD, MPH, director of psychology, research and education at Sheppard Pratt and a co-investigator on the study. Gail Daumit of Johns Hopkins was the principal investigator. 

This study involved 269 participants with serious mental illness including 132 who received an individually-tailored, 18-month program delivered by a health coach and nurse. The program included behavioral health counseling focused on smoking cessation, physical activity, and making healthier meal choices. The remaining 137 participants were in the control group and did not receive any additional interventions than their usual program would dictate. 

To calculate cardiovascular risk both before and after the intervention, the researchers used the global Framingham Risk Score which predicts the 10-year risk of having a major cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack or stroke.

The findings of this study are significant as those with serious mental illness are twice as likely to have cardiovascular disease than the general population. Additionally, those with serious mental illness have a higher prevalence of additional risk factors such as obesity and diabetes 

“This study gives us hope that we can reduce health disparities in people with serious mental illness,” said Dr. Dickerson. 

The full study can be reviewed in JAMA Network Open by clicking here.