Prevalence of metabolic syndrome among inpatients with schizophrenia

OBJECTIVE: Cardiovascular disease is one of the most prevalent factors responsible for excess mortality in schizophrenia. Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with the development of coronary heart disease and diabetes mellitus. The aim in this cross-sectional study was to assess the prevalence of MetS in schizophrenic Turkish inpatients. METHOD: The study was conducted from January 2006 to June 2006, and included 231 patients with schizophrenia. All participants were enrolled from inpatients attending the Samsun Mental Health Hospital psychiatry clinic. All subjects were aged between 18 and 65 and met the DSM IV criteria for schizophrenia. MetS was taken as central obesity (defined as waist circumference: men > or = 94 cm, women > or = 80 cm) and meeting > or = 2 of the following abnormalities described by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF): a serum triglyceride level > 150 mg/dL, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol < 40 mg/dL in men and < 50 mg/dL in women, blood pressure > or = 130/85 mm Hg, and a fasting serum glucose level > or = 100 mg/d/L. RESULTS: The study group consisted of 174 male and 57 female patients. Mean age was 38.5 +/- 10.5 and mean duration of illness was 15.76 +/- 9.95 years. The overall prevalence of MetS diagnosed according to the IDF criteria was 32.0% (n = 74) and was higher in females (61.4%) than in males (22.4%; p = 0.0001). In logistic regression analysis the last step of the regression model was gender (B = 1.70, p = 0.0001, OR = 5.50, 95% CI = 2.90-10.45). CONCLUSION: This study shows that the prevalence of MetS in Turkish patients with schizophrenia is similar to that of the general population, but lower than in other reports regarding the schizophrenia population.