The contribution of abdominal obesity and dyslipidemia to metabolic syndrome in psychiatric patients.
OBJECTIVE
Metabolic syndrome is an emerging risk factor for cardiovascular disease. This study investigated the prevalence of metabolic syndrome among psychiatric patients in order to identify the dominant factors of metabolic syndrome.


METHODS
We enrolled 225 patients who had been admitted to a chronic psychiatric hospital from October 2005 to February 2006. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was assessed based on the Adult Treatment Panel (ATP)-III with the new criterion of waist circumference in the Asia-Pacific Region.


RESULTS
The study population was relatively young (41.1 +/- 8.8 years) and obese (waist in men, 91.3 +/- 9.2 cm; waist in women, 84.1 +/- 8.8 cm). Sixty percent of patients met the waist criterion of metabolic syndrome and 56% met the low high density lipoprotein (HDL) criterion. The mean serum triglycerides were high (170.0 +/- 119.7 mg/dL) and 46% of patients met the triglyceride criterion. In contrast, less than 10% of patients showed impaired fasting glucose or high blood pressure (5%, 9%, respectively). The overall prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 34.2% by applying ATP-III criteria (40% in men and 20% in women, respectively). No specific anti-psychotic drugs were related to significant increase in the incidence of metabolic syndrome.


CONCLUSIONS
Abdominal obesity and dyslipidemia (low HDL and high triglycerides) were dominant contributing factors of metabolic syndrome among psychiatric patients, and the affected age groups were relatively young. These findings indicate that active and early screening, including triglycerides, HDL, and waist measurement, are absolutely essential to managing metabolic syndrome in psychiatric patients.
Department of Cardiology, Asan Medical Center, Ulsan University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Sung-Hwan
SH
Kim
Kiwon
K
Kim
Mi Hyang
MH
Kwak
Hak Jin
HJ
Kim
Hong-Sup
HS
Kim
Ki Hoon
KH
Han
D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D050171:Dyslipidemias / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood; D055815:Young Adult
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D014280:Triglycerides