A study of metabolic syndrome in chronic institutionalized patients with schizophrenia

Background: Metabolic syndrome (Mets), which consist of several metabolic abnormalities, is an important clinical issue in patients with schizophrenia and a key risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and type-2 diabetes mellitus, both of which impact heavily upon life quality as well as expectancy. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Mets in chronic institutionalized patients with schizophrenia and to find out association between Mets, sociodemographic and clinical variables. Materials and methods: The study was carried out at Psychiatry wards of the Psychiatric Hospital, SMS Medical College, Jaipur. Sixty male schizophrenic inpatients (with at least 6 months of hospital stay at their last admission), diagnosed according to ICD-10 criteria were evaluated for Mets as per the criteria of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). Patients with Mets were compared to those without Mets on the basis of demographic and clinical characteristics. Binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to find out the association between Mets, demographic and clinical variables. Results: Schizophrenia patients with Mets were older, have a longer duration of illness, using 2nd generation antipsychotics and more likely to be smokers as compared to patients without Mets. Mets was significantly correlated with age, waist circumference, BMI and presence of negative symptoms. Conclusion: The study showed that prevalence of Mets in chronic institutionalized patients with schizophrenia as per IDF was 31.66 percent. This mandates systematic screening as well as elimination of risk factors such as poor lifestyle, obesity and metabolic disturbances in these indoor patients. Further study on a larger number of samples is needed to be done.