Hospitalization, Mechanical Ventilation, and Mortality After COVID-19 Among Adults With or Without Serious Mental Illness.

Murphy, Karly A; McGinty, Emma E; Daumit, Gail L

OBJECTIVE The authors evaluated the likelihood of hospital admission, mechanical ventilation, and mortality within 30 days after a COVID-19 diagnosis among persons with or without serious mental illness. METHODS Adults with and without serious mental illness diagnosed as having COVID-19 in the first year of the pandemic were identified in the TriNetX database, a network of electronic health records from 49 U.S. health care systems representing 63.5 million individuals. A propensity score approach was used to compare outcomes of unmatched and matched cohorts (N=85,257). RESULTS Compared with persons without serious mental illness, persons with serious mental illness were more likely to be hospitalized or to die after COVID-19 diagnosis. No difference in mortality or use of mechanical ventilation was observed among groups admitted to the hospital with COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS Disparities in overall mortality after COVID-19 for persons with serious mental illness likely were driven by factors outside of acute care settings.