Awareness of obesity and weight issues among chronically mentally ill inpatients: a pilot study

Obesity in psychotic patients is a subject of increasing scrutiny, but there is a dearth of data regarding awareness about weight related issues among chronic inpatients. To assess this issue state hospital patients voluntarily completed an anonymous questionnaire concerning obesity, weight gain variables, concern about weight, and methods to control weight gain. Sex, age, weight, and height were collected with completed surveys. A total of 128 respondents completed the questionnaire of which 85% were male. Respondents' mean age was 39.8 years, mean BMI 30.84 kg/m2 with 46.6% obese. There was a significant correlation between BMI and awareness of current weight status (p = 0.005), but not between BMI and level of concern about weight among all respondents (p = 0.308) or in the obese subgroup (p = 0.693). Significantly fewer obese patients indicated no weight problem, or no need to control their weight compared to the nonobese (p = 0.004), yet only 10% of obese patients requested to be placed on a mandatory monitored diet. Chronically mentally ill inpatients thus accurately perceive their obesity status, but level of concern does not correlate with BMI, and the obese are reluctant to choose mandatory dieting as a remedy. These findings have significant implications for programmatic measures to control weight gain among chronic inpatients, and for use of atypicals that have a greater propensity to cause weight gain.