Cardiac risks 'higher' for mentally ill

People with mental illness are less likely to be offered treatment after a heart attack and are more likely to die, research suggests.

An analysis of 22 studies found people with mental health problems are 14 per cent less likely to receive procedures such as revascularisation, angio-plasty or a bypass after suffering an event such as a heart attack or an episode of unstable angina.

People with schizophrenia were 47 per cent less likely to get the treatments.

Also, people with mental health problems were 11 per cent more likely to die after coronary events such as a heart attack.

The researchers, from the University of Leicester and an Australian research institue, published their findings in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

Lead researcher Dr Alex Mitchell said: "We urgently need to know whether patients are declining treatment or whether clinicians are not offering it to an equal degree."