Cited by 584Mental Health Treatment and AccessMental Health Research TopicsChronic Disease Management Strategies

Exploring comorbidity within mental disorders among a Danish national population

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Plana-Ripoll, Oleguer, Pedersen, Carsten Bøcker, Holtz, Yan, Benros, Michael E., Dalsgaard, Søren, de Jonge, Peter, Fan, Chun Chieh, Degenhardt, Louisa +24 more·2019·JAMA Psychiatry

Abstract

Importance: Individuals with mental disorders often develop comorbidity over time. Past studies of comorbidity have often restricted analyses to a subset of disorders and few studies have provided absolute risks of later comorbidity. Objectives: To undertake a comprehensive study of comorbidity within mental disorders, by providing temporally ordered age- and sex-specific pairwise estimates between the major groups of mental disorders, and to develop an interactive website to visualize all results and guide future research and clinical practice. Design, Setting, and Participants: This population-based cohort study included all individuals born in Denmark between January 1, 1900, and December 31, 2015, and living in the country between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2016. The analyses were conducted between June 2017 and May 2018. Main Outcomes and Measures: Danish health registers were used to identify mental disorders, which were examined within the broad 10-level International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision, subchapter groups (eg, codes F00-F09 and F10-F19). For each temporally ordered pair of disorders, overall and lagged hazard ratios and 95% CIs were calculated using Cox proportional hazards regression models. Absolute risks were estimated using competing risks survival analyses. Estimates for each sex were generated. Results: A total of 5 940 778 persons were included in this study (2 958 293 men and 2 982 485 women; mean [SD] age at beginning of follow-up, 32.1 [25.4] years). They were followed up for 83.9 million person-years. All mental disorders were associated with an increased risk of all other mental disorders when adjusting for sex, age, and calendar time (hazard ratios ranging from 2.0 [95% CI, 1.7-2.4] for prior intellectual disabilities and later eating disorders to 48.6 [95% CI, 46.6-50.7] for prior developmental disorders and later intellectual disabilities). The hazard ratios were temporally patterned, with higher estimates during the first year after the onset of the first disorder, but with persistently elevated rates during the entire observation period. Some disorders were associated with substantial absolute risks of developing specific later disorders (eg, 30.6% [95% CI, 29.3%-32.0%] of men and 38.4% [95% CI, 37.5%-39.4%] of women with a diagnosis of mood disorders before age 20 years developed neurotic disorders within the following 5 years). Conclusions and Relevance: Comorbidity within mental disorders is pervasive, and the risk persists over time. This study provides disorder-, sex-, and age-specific relative and absolute risks of the comorbidity of mental disorders. Web-based interactive data visualization tools are provided for clinical utility.

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Authors
Plana-Ripoll, O., Pedersen, C. B., Holtz, Y., Benros, M. E., Dalsgaard, S., de Jonge, P., Fan, C. C., Degenhardt, L., Ganna, A., Greve, A. N., Gunn, J., Iburg, K. M., Kessing, L. V., Lee, B. K., Lim, C. C. W., Mors, O., Nordentoft, M., Prior, A., Roest, A. M., Saha, S., Schork, A., Scott, J. G., Scott, K. M., Stedman, T., Sørensen, H. J., Werge, T., Whiteford, H. A., Laursen, T. M., Agerbo, E., Kessler, R. C., Mortensen, P. B., & McGrath, J. J.
Affiliations
  • National Centre for Register-based Research, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
  • Aarhus University (DK)
  • The University of Queensland (AU)
  • University of Copenhagen (DK)
  • Developmental Psychology, Department of Psychology, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
  • University of California San Diego (US)
  • UNSW Sydney (AU)
  • Broad Institute (US)
  • Aarhus University Hospital (DK)
  • The University of Melbourne (AU)
  • Drexel University (US)
  • University Medical Center Groningen (NL)
  • Mental Health Services (DK)
  • University of Otago (NZ)
  • West Moreton Division of Mental Health and Specialised Services, Archerfield, Queensland, Australia
  • Harvard University (US)
Corresponding author
McGrath, John J.
Venue
JAMA Psychiatry
Published
2019-03-01
Volume
76
Issue
3
Pages
259
ISSN
2168-622X (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2908945164
Cited by
584
References
28
Citations by year
2026: 62 · 2025: 71 · 2024: 87 · 2023: 86 · 2022: 93 · 2021: 82 · 2020: 75 · 2019: 28
FWCI
87.33
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • JAMA Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Massachusetts General Hospital
  • Aarhus Universitet
  • Aarhus Universitetshospital
  • Drexel University
  • University of Otago
  • Broad Institute
  • Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
  • University of Melbourne
  • University of Queensland
  • Gentofte Hospital
  • Lundbeckfonden (R208-2015-3951, R155-2014-1724, R248‐2017‐2003, R278–2018-1411)
  • Rigshospitalet
  • Novo Nordisk Fonden (NNF 16OC0022018, NNF18OC0031194)
  • University of California, San Diego
  • Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute
  • Metro North Hospital and Health Service
  • Queensland Brain Institute
  • Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University Of Queensland
  • FP7 Ideas: European Research Council (294838)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Chronic Disease Management Strategies
Keywords
mental illness, psychiatric comorbidity, intellectual disability, developmental disorders, eating disorders, anxiety disorders, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, substance use disorders, competing risks survival analysis, sex differences, mental health service utilization, outpatient care, primary care visits, health care costs
MeSH terms
Adult, Age Factors, Mental Disorders, Denmark, Female, Humans, Male, Registries, Sex Factors, Time Factors, Cohort Studies, Comorbidity, Young Adult

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