Premium
Weight gain with add‐on second‐generation antipsychotics in bipolar disorder: a naturalistic study
Author(s) -
Najar H.,
Joas E.,
Kardell M.,
Pålsson E.,
Landén M.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/acps.12737
Subject(s) - weight gain , bipolar disorder , mood stabilizer , body mass index , mood , psychiatry , medicine , antipsychotic , psychology , pediatrics , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , body weight
Objective Our aim was to investigate the prevalence and magnitude of weight gain in‐patients with bipolar disorder when treated with a second‐generation antipsychotic as an add‐on treatment to a mood stabilizer in routine clinical practice. Methods Data were derived from the quality register for bipolar disorder in Sweden (BipoläR). Patients with bipolar disorder who started add‐on treatment with a SGA ( n = 575) were compared at next yearly follow‐up with age and sex matched patients who were only treated with a mood stabilizer ( n = 566). The primary outcome measure was change in body weight and body mass index ( BMI ). We also assessed the prevalence of clinically significant weight gain defined as ≥7% gain in body weight. Results The group that received add‐on treatment with antipsychotics neither gained more weight nor were at higher risk for a clinically significant weight gain than the reference group. Instead, factors associated with clinically significant weight gain were female sex, young age, low‐baseline BMI , and occurrence of manic/hypomanic episodes. Conclusion We found no evidence of an overall increased risk of weight gain for patients with bipolar disorder after receiving add‐on SGA to a mood stabilizer in a routine clinical setting.