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Screening for the metabolic syndrome in community psychiatric patients prescribed antipsychotics: a quality improvement programme
Author(s) -
Barnes T. R. E.,
Paton C.,
Hancock E.,
Cavanagh M.R.,
Taylor D.,
Lelliott P.
Publication year - 2008
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/j.1600-0447.2008.01203.x
Subject(s) - medicine , audit , metabolic syndrome , psychological intervention , psychiatry , family medicine , physical therapy , obesity , management , economics
Objective: The aim was to evaluate a quality improvement programme designed to increase screening for the metabolic syndrome in community psychiatric patients prescribed antipsychotics. Method: Baseline audit against evidence‐based standards, followed by provision of benchmarked data and a range of change interventions, with re‐audit 1 year later. Results: At baseline, 48 assertive outreach teams across the UK submitted data on screening over the previous year for 1966 patients. At re‐audit, 35 of the teams submitted data for 1516 patients. Screening for all four aspects of the metabolic syndrome (measuring blood pressure, obesity, blood glucose and plasma lipids) had increased significantly by re‐audit. Clinical variables increasing the likelihood of full screening were clozapine treatment and a known diagnosis of diabetes or dyslipidaemia. Conclusion: The programme’s success may be partly attributed to the use of a widely‐accepted audit standard, and bespoke change interventions that directly addressed barriers to screening identified by the participating clinical teams.