Increased in-hospital mortality from COVID-19 in patients with schizophrenia

Background: There is limited information describing the presenting characteristics and outcomes of patients with schizophrenia (SCZ) requiring hospitalization for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Aims: We aimed to compare the clinical characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 SCZ patients with those of non-SCZ patients Method: This was a case-control study of COVID-19 patients admitted to 4 APHM/AMU acute care hospitals in Marseille, southern France COVID-19 infection was confirmed by a positive result on polymerase chain reaction testing of a nasopharyngeal sample and/or on chest computed scan among patients requiring hospital admission The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality The secondary outcome was intensive care unit (ICU) admission Results: A total of 1092 patients were included The overall in-hospital mortality rate was 9 0% The SCZ patients had an increased mortality compared to the non-SCZ patients (26 7% vs 8 7%, p=0 039), which was confirmed by the multivariable analysis after adjustment for age, sex, smoking status, obesity and comorbidity (adjusted odds ratio 4 36 [95% CI 1 09-17 44];p=0 038) In contrast, the SCZ patients were not more frequently admitted to the ICU than the non-SCZ patients Importantly, the SCZ patients were mostly institutionalized (63 6%, 100% of those who died), and they were more likely to have cancers and respiratory comorbidities Conclusions: This study suggests that SCZ is not overrepresented among COVID-19 hospitalized patients, but SCZ is associated with excess COVID-19 mortality, confirming the existence of health disparities described in other somatic diseases