WEIGHT GAIN AND ANTIPSYCHOTICS. DATA FROM EUFEST STUDY.

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry and Pharmacology
• Clinical Neuroscience

Background:

• Schizophrenia requires long-term antipsychotic treatment, making the choice of medication critical due to efficacy and side effect profiles.
• Weight gain is a significant concern associated with antipsychotic use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate weight gain over one year in antipsychotic-naive patients with first-episode schizophrenia.
• To compare weight gain across different typical and atypical antipsychotics.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of data from the European First Episode Schizophrenia Trial (EUFEST) Romanian cohort.
• 113 antipsychotic-naive, first-episode schizophrenia patients were randomized to 5 treatment arms (Haloperidol, Olanzapine, Amisulpride, Ziprasidone, Quetiapine).
• Weight was measured at baseline and at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months.

Main Results:

• No statistically significant differences in weight gain were found between typical and atypical antipsychotics or individual medications.
• The highest incidence of weight gain occurred within the first three months (57.49%) across all neuroleptics.
• Ziprasidone resulted in the least weight gain (3.87 kg), while olanzapine showed the highest increase (9.83 kg) by study's end.

Conclusions:

• Weight gain is a common issue with antipsychotics, particularly pronounced in the initial three months of treatment.
• Proactive interventions are necessary during the early phase of antipsychotic therapy to manage weight gain effectively.
• Individualized strategies are needed to maintain patients' pre-treatment weight.