Body Mass Index Changes of Patients on Antipsychotics: A Comparison between Typical and Atypical Antipsychotics

Author(s): Chukwujekwu DC, Olose OE

Objectives:The study was designed to assess and compare the changes in the body mass index of patients on typical and atypical antipsychotics in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria.

Materials and Methods: Consenting psychiatric patients who were antipsychotic naive before the commencement of the study and who attended the hospital between February 2014 and October 2014 were enlisted in the study. The SCAN and a socio-demographic questionnaire were administered to the subjects. BMI of each subject was calculated before the administration of antipsychotic and after 1 month, 2 months and 3months intervals.

Results: 138 out of 140 subjects enlisted in the study were analyzed. The mean BMI changes derived were 23.7461 ± 3.58270, 25.0074 ± 3.99667, 25.960 ± 4.24540 and 27.1261 ± 4.66810. The atypical antipsychotics caused relatively higher mean BMI increases more than the typical ones and the mean BMl differences between the two groups of antipsychotic users is consistently statistically significant (df=l, F=48.354, p=0.000, df=I, F=51.082, P=0.000, df=I, F=77.451, p=0.000).

Conclusion: Considering the invaluable role of antipsychotics in the treatment of psychiatric patients, non-pharmacologic interventions are highly recommended to help control the weight of patients on antipsychotic treatment.

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