The team studied 5001 Taiwanese patients younger than 45 years, who were hospitalized with their first recognized acute episode of schizophrenia during 1998. During the next 5 years, 2.5% of patients suffered stroke, compared with 0.94% of 10,002 age-matched appendectomy patients without schizophrenia.
This difference persisted after adjustment for demographics, co morbidities, and substance abuse, with schizophrenia 2.02-fold more likely to suffer stroke than appendectomy patients.
The increased stroke risk was particularly notable among female schizophrenia patients, who had a hazard ratio of 2.87 for stroke, compared with female appendectomy patients. The corresponding hazard ratio in men was 1.64.
This finding "represents a departure from widely held beliefs about the relationship between gender and stroke occurrence," the researchers write in the journal Schizophrenia Research.
The lack of general healthcare among schizophrenia patients, including recognition and treatment of rapidly developing health conditions, may place this patient population at greater risk for stroke," surmise Lee et al.
