Aging among persons with serious mental illness: Policy implications for earlier onset of frailty

Understanding how persons with serious mental illness (SMI) age is crucial. We compared the aging of persons with SMI with that of older adults from the general population in a large community sample focusing on demographic and clinical variables: cognitive performance, dementia, and diabetes. Participants were New Zealanders 65 years and older who completed the international Resident Assessment Instrument (interRAI). Data from 10,361 participants (mean age 80.4 years, 55.5% female) were analyzed. 258 of them were persons with SMI (mean age 73.0, 57.0% female). Persons with SMI were significantly younger than those from the general population. InterRAI assessments showed no clinical differences. Significantly, more persons with SMI were living alone and without a partner.