Eight decades of mortality in an English high-security hospital.

Background: Psychiatric patients are known to have poorer physical health than the general population and to have premature mortality, but the impact of institutional care on the physical health of patients is less clear.

Aims: This study aimed to compare mortality rates and causes of death between a high-security psychiatric hospital cohort and the general population in England for the periods 1920-1961 and 1972-2000.

Method: Data were obtained from various clinical and non-clinical archives and death certificates.