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Cardiometabolic comorbidity in antipsychotic treated patients: need for systematic evaluation and treatment

Pauline M J Steylen1, Frank M M A van der Heijden, Hans D H Kok

  • 1Vincent van Gogh Institute for Psychiatry, Centre of Excellence for Neuropsychiatry, Venray, The Netherlands. psteylen@vvgi.nl

International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice
|February 27, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Psychiatric patients on antipsychotics have high rates of cardiometabolic issues like metabolic syndrome. Treatment for these conditions is often inadequate, necessitating new guidelines and integrated care.

Area of Science:

  • Psychiatry
  • Cardiology
  • Endocrinology

Background:

  • Antipsychotic medications are associated with significant cardiometabolic risks.
  • Cardiometabolic dysregulations are common comorbidities in patients with mental disorders.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the prevalence of cardiometabolic dysregulations.
  • To evaluate somatic treatment regimens for these conditions in psychiatric patients receiving antipsychotics.

Main Methods:

  • Naturalistic cohort study design.
  • Baseline and one-year follow-up assessments of cardiometabolic parameters.
  • Evaluation of treatment adequacy for somatic comorbidities.

Main Results:

  • Approximately 50% of patients met criteria for metabolic syndrome.
  • Low rates of pharmacologic treatment for hypercholesterolemia (19%), hypertension (26%), and diabetes (52%).
  • Untreated patients were younger; cardiometabolic parameters showed dynamic changes over time.

Conclusions:

  • High prevalence of cardiometabolic risk factors in psychiatric patients on antipsychotics.
  • Inadequate treatment of cardiometabolic comorbidities in this population.
  • Need for specialized guidelines addressing cardiovascular risk and drug interactions, and integrated care models.
Abstract

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