WP22/02: Longitudinal Associations of Mental Disorders with Accidental Injuries

Working Paper 22/02

Leah Richmond Rakerd
Avshalom Caspi
Stephanie D’Souza
Lara Khalifeh
Barry Milne
Terrie Moffitt

We have previously shown that mental disorders are associated with the subsequent onset of chronic physical diseases in the population (in Richmond-Rakerd LS, D’Souza S, Milne BJ, Caspi A, Moffitt TE (2021). Longitudinal associations of mental disorders with physical diseases and mortality among 2.3 million New Zealand citizens. JAMA Netw Open 4(1):e2033448, doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.33448).

It remains unknown, however, whether these associations extend to other physical-health problems. The present analysis will evaluate whether mental disorders also forecast accidental injuries in the population. We have three primary aims:

1. To test whether mental disorders are associated with subsequent accidental injuries, across a 26-year period.
2. To test whether associations are evident for different types of psychiatric conditions, and for different types of injuries.
3. To test whether associations are evident across age and sex.

Results could inform epidemiologic models of the association between mental and physical health, as well as public-health and policy efforts to reduce the population burden of injuries.

We will use the following tables from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI):

• Life Event Data
• Person Overseas Spell
• Publicly Funded Hospital Discharges
• ACC Injury Claims
• National Non-Admitted Patient Collection (NNAPAC)
• Mortality Data

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