Background:
To measure the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome among patients with a prolonged psychotic illness being treated within a community setting and to examine gender- and age-stratified trends.
Methods:
The study sample consisted of patients receiving treatment in the midwest or northwest mental health regions of Melbourne, Australia, between February 2003 and February 2004. Of the 206 patients aged 18 years and over who were approached, 106 consented to participate, yielding a response rate of 52.7%. Participants were assessed for the presence of metabolic syndrome using the Adult Treatment Panel Guidelines-III).
Results:
Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome among patients within this population was 39.4% (an alternate method of determining the denominator, indicates a rate of ∼50%). Patients with the metabolic syndrome had a higher body mass index (31.73 vs. 28.82, P < 0.01) and increased triglyceride levels (3.49 vs. 1.70, P < 0.01) compared with patients without this syndrome. Men with the metabolic syndrome had lower mean high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (0.95 vs. 1.24, P < 0.01) compared with men without this syndrome. In general, there were distinct gender patterns of abnormality in the metabolic components, and age stratification shows increased relative risks in the young as contrasted with the older patients.
Conclusions:
The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome is high among people with a prolonged psychotic illness. Health professionals treating people within this population need to be monitoring their patients' physical health as well as looking after their mental well-being.
