HIGH PREVALENCE OF GENERAL AND ABDOMINAL OBESITY AND RELATIONSHIP OF OBESITY WITH DIABETES MELLITUS IN PATIENTS WITH PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS

Objective and Methods: Obesity and obesity-associated diabetes are serious health concerns in patients with psychiatric disorders. We compared the prevalence's of general obesity and abdominal obesity in 337 patients with psychiatric disorders and evaluated the risk of both types of obesity for diabetes mellitus in patients with psychiatric disorders. Results: In patients with psychiatric disorders, the prevalence's of general obesity and abdominal obesity were very high especially in females. The prevalence of abdominal obesity was significantly higher in males than in females, and was higher than the prevalence of general obesity in all patients (total) and in males. The prevalence's of general obesity and abdominal obesity were more than 2 times high compared to those in general population. The association rate of diabetes in patients with general obesity and abdominal obesity higher than those in patients with non-general obesity and non-abdominal obesity, respectively, in total and in males and females, but these differences were not significant except in total. The values of HbA1c in patients with general obesity was significantly higher than that in patients without general obesity, in total and in males and females; but was significantly higher in patients with abdominal obesity compared to non-abdominal obese patients in total, and in females. After adjustment for several confounding factors, multiple logistic regression analysis showed significant associations of general obesity and abdominal obesity with diabetes mellitus. Conclusions: The results of this study show that the prevalence's of general obesity and abdominal obesity in patients with psychiatric disorders is very high, especially in females which looks to be higher than those in the general population. Multiple regression analyses revealed both general and abdominal obesities were both found to be risk factors for diabetes. These results suggest that effective treatment of obesity is needed for prevention of diabetes in patients with psychiatric disorders.