Background: There is an excess of death from natural causes among people with schizophrenia.

Aims: Schizophrenia and its treatment with neuroleptics were studied for their prediction of mortality in a representative population sample of 7217 Finns aged >/= 30 years.

Method: A comprehensive health examination was carried out at baseline. Schizophrenia was determined using the Present State Examination and previous medical records.

Results: During a 17-year follow-up, 39 of the 99 people with schizophrenia died. Adjusted for age and gender, the relative mortality risk between those with schizophrenia and others was 2.84 (95% CI 2.06-3.90), and was 2.25 (95% CI1.61-3.15) after further adjusting for somatic diseases, bloodpressure, cholesterol, body mass index, smoking, exercise, alcohol intake and education. The number of neuroleptics used at the time of the baseline survey showed a graded relation to mortality. Adjusted for age, gender, somatic diseases and other potential risk factors for premature death, the relative risk was 2.50 (95% CI1.46-4.30) per increment of one neuroleptic.

Conclusions: There is an urgent need to ascertain whether the high mortality in schizophrenia is attributable to the disorder itself or the antipsychotic medication.