Metabolic Syndrome among Psychiatric Inpatients

Abstract

Introduction: Metabolic syndrome (MS) refers to a clustering of various cardiometabolic risk factors which include truncal obesity, hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia and elevated blood pressure and indicates a pre-clinical state for the development of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. MS is highly prevalent in the general population, and it is estimated to be 58% higher in the psychiatric population.

Objectives: This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in psychiatric inpatients of Centro Hospitalar do Médio Tejo.

Materials and methods: A retrospective study was performed. All patients admitted between the 1st January 2017 and 31st December 2018 were eligible to enter the study. From these, the patients aged 50 years or older who met criteria for metabolic syndrome, were selected.

Results: Of all the 960 inpatients in the Psychiatric Hospital during the study period, 483 met the inclusion criteria of age. Of these, 135 also met the inclusion criteria of metabolic syndrome. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the sample studied was 28%. 63,7% were females (86) and 36,3% were males (49). The mean age of the population was 68,03±10,7 years. Among the diagnostic subgroups, the prevalence of MS was highest among those with depressive disorders (37,8%) followed by psychotic disorder (15,1%) and bipolar disorder (12,6%).

Discussion and conclusion: This study
showed that the prevalence of metabolic syndrome among psychiatric inpatients was significantly high. Psychiatric patients should be frequently monitored for cardiometabolic risk factors during treatment.