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Metabolic syndrome in antipsychotic naive African patients with severe mental illness in usual care
Author(s) -
Saloojee Shamima,
Burns Jonathan K.,
Motala Ayesha A.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
early intervention in psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.087
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1751-7893
pISSN - 1751-7885
DOI - 10.1111/eip.12428
Subject(s) - metabolic syndrome , antipsychotic , medicine , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , incidence (geometry) , mental illness , prospective cohort study , waist , positive and negative syndrome scale , psychiatry , pediatrics , body mass index , psychosis , obesity , mental health , physics , optics
Background To determine the prevalence and incidence of metabolic syndrome in individuals with a first episode of severe mental illness from South Africa. Methods Antipsychotic naïve study subjects with a first episode of severe mental illness and control subjects were recruited at baseline for a prospective study. Individuals without metabolic syndrome at baseline were followed up for 12 months after antipsychotic medication was initiated. Metabolic syndrome was determined at baseline and at the 12‐month follow‐up using the Joint Interim Statement criteria. Results At baseline, the 67 study (M:F; 48:19) and 67 control subjects (M:F; 48:19) had a mean age of 22.8 (±3.7) and 23.3 (±2.6) years ( P = .4), respectively. The majority were of black African ethnicity (97%) and 82% were diagnosed with schizophrenia. There was no difference in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (4.5%) or any of the individual components between the study and control group prior to the initiation of antipsychotics. Of the 64 study subjects without metabolic syndrome at baseline, only 36 (M:F; 25:11) completed the 12‐month follow‐up (response rate 56.3%) and 2 subjects developed metabolic syndrome .The incidence of metabolic syndrome was 5.5% with a significant increase in the elevated waist circumference criterion after 1 year of antipsychotic treatment ( P = .02). Conclusions There was a low prevalence and incidence of metabolic syndrome in this group of patients with a first episode of severe mental illness.