Postdoc projects
Patterns and courses of somatic illness and the utilization of health services among patients with substance use disorders and/or mental disorders in Norway
People with substance use disorders and/or severe mental disorders on average die at a younger age compared with the general population. This premature and preventable death is largely due to somatic diseases, primarily cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and respiratory diseases. This project is therefore aimed describing the patterns and courses of somatic diseases among patients with substance use disorders and/or mental disorders, including analyzing socio-demographic-specific differences in the patterns and courses of somatic diseases in these groups of patients. The project also aims to examine utilization of medical and psychiatric services among patients with substance use disorders and/or mental disorders.
The research design is based on register study by linking individual-level information from the Norwegian Patient Register (NPR), the Cancer Registry of Norway (Kreftregisteret), the Norwegian Prescription Database (Reseptregisteret; NorPD) and register data managed by Statistics Norway (socio-demographic information). The study includes all patients registered from 2008 to 2016. The research results will provide more knowledge on how the detrimental low life expectancy of people with mental health illnesses and addiction problems might be curved due to insights into patterns and courses of somatic illness and health services utilization among this group. It also improves the coordination of care across the somatic, mental and addiction healthcare delivery system.
PI – Dawit Shawel Abebe; Project manager – Lars Lien, M.D, Ph.D. (Psychiatrist)
Project period: 2017-2023
Funded by the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority