Aim: To assess the prevalence of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) and Metabolic Syndrome (MS) in patients treated with antipsychotics.
Methods: Retrospective, cross-sectional, multicenter study in which 117 Spanish psychiatrists (the CLAMORS Study Collaborative Group) recruited consecutive outpatients meeting DSM-IV criteria for Schizophrenia, Schizophreniform or Schizoaffective Disorder, receiving antipsychotic treatment for at least 12 weeks. CHD risk was assessed by SCORE (10-year CV death) and Framingham (10-year all CHD events) function. MS was defined by at least 3 of the following components: waist circumference >102 (men)/>88 (women) cm; triglycerides > or =150 mg/dl; HDL-cholesterol <40 mg/dl (men)/<50 mg/dl (women); blood pressure > or =130/85; fasting glucose > or =110 mg/dl.
Results: 1452 evaluable patients (863 men, 60.9%), aged 40.7+/-12.2 years (mean+/-SD) were included. MS was present in 24.6% [23.6% (men), 27.2% (women); p=0.130)]. The overall 10-year risks were 0.9+/-1.9 (SCORE) and 7.2+/-7.6 (Framingham). 8% (95%CI: 6.5-9.5) and 22.1% (95%CI: 20.0-24.3) of patients showed a high/very high risk according to SCORE (> or =3%) and Framingham (> or =10%) function. Abdominal obesity and low HDL-cholesterol were more prevalent in women: 54.5% (95%CI: 50.2-58.9) versus 34.3% (95%CI: 31.0-37.7), and 46.1% (95%CI: 41.4) versus 28.5 (95%CI: 50.8), p<0.001 in both cases. Hypertension and hypertriglyceridemia were more prevalent in men: 59.0% (95%CI: 55.7-62.3) versus 46.0% (95%CI: 41.8-50.2), and 40.7% (95%CI: 37.2-44.2) versus 32.4 (95%CI: 28.3-36.5), p<0.01 in both cases.
Conclusions: CHD risk and MS prevalences among patients with schizophrenia treated with antipsychotics were in the same range as the Spanish general population 10 to 15 years older.