Metabolic syndrome in patients with schizophrenia

Objective: to determine frequency of metabolic syndrome in patients with schizophrenia,in a tertiary care armed forces setup. study design: cross sectional study. place and duration: department of psychiatry,pns shifa,karachi from october 2009 to april 2010. materials and methods: fifty six patients with schizophrenia reporting for management in pns shifa were enrolled as subjects. demographic variables and other confounding variables were recorded in a structured performa,blood pressure (bp) and waist circumference (wc) were measured while fasting plasma glucose (fpg),triglycerides (tag) and hdl-cholesterol (hdl-c) levels were estimated by routine methods in laboratory with quality assurance. results: more than half i.e.30 (53.6%) of subjects had metabolic syndrome (ms) as per atp iiia criteria. further 25% (n=14) of subjects were positive for two components of ms. low hdl-c levels were most prevalent component followed by hyperglycaemia,hypertriglyceridemia and increased wc while hypertension was least common component. conclusion: metabolic syndrome and its various components are frequently co morbidity in patients with schizophrenia. © 2015,liaquat university of medical and health sciences. all rights reserved.