Low incidence of metabolic syndrome in patients taking atypical antipsychotic in Eastern India

Background: Atypical antipsychotics, widely used in many psychiatric diseases, are known to cause metabolic syndrome (MetS). But, there is sparse of prospective study to see the effect of atypical antipsychotics causing MetS in drug naïve or drug free patients among the Indian population. This study aimed to determine the incidence of MetS and change in individual risk factor for MetS in schizophrenia and mood disorder patients after three months of receiving atypical antipsychotics. Method: Sixty patients of schizophrenia (n=40) and mood disorders (n=20) were screened at the baseline and all of them were prospectively followed up for the occurrence of MetS after three months. Results: By applying the Third Report of the National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (NCEP/ATP III) modified criteria for Asian, the incidence of MetS was found to be 11.66%. When analysing the individual risk factor for MetS, the mean value from baseline to follow-up was weight (in kg) 58.55±10.03 to 59.80±10.24 (p<0.001), waist circumference (cm) 80.52±6.33 to 81.43±6.42 (p<0.001), systolic blood pressure (mm/Hg) 113.93±8.28 to 117.53±10.89 (p<0.001), diastolic blood pressure (mm/Hg) 74.80±7.31 to 78.32±6.79 (p<0.001), fasting blood glucose (mg/dl) 86.23±12.02 to 91.35±13.04 (p<0.001), triglyceride (mg/dl) 97.32±31.41 to 101.25±34.38 (p<0.001), high-density lipoproteins (HDL) (mg/dl) 48.07±4.98 to 48.05±4.57 (p=0.951). Conclusion: Our study suggests that incidence of MetS in Indian population was 11.66% after three months of using atypical antipsychotic drugs in patients with schizophrenia or mood disorder. The change in mean value in the individual risk factor for MetS was statistically significant. Long-term follow-up studies are required to identify the real burden of MetS after using atypical antipsychotic drugs.