High prevalence of metabolic diseases, liver steatosis and fibrosis among Chinese psychiatric patients

BACKGROUND: We aimed to investigate the differences of metabolic disorders between the general population and psychiatric patients, with an emphasis on the prevalence and influencing factors of liver fibrosis in psychiatric patients. METHODS: A total of 734 psychiatric patients and 734 general population matched for age, sex, and BMI were enrolled from Shanghai, China. All participants underwent blood pressure, glucose, lipid profile measurements, and anthropometric parameters including body weight, height and waist circumference. FibroScan examinations were also performed on psychiatric patients. Liver steatosis and fibrosis were diagnosed by controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) and liver stiffness measurement (LSM) by professional staff. RESULTS: Compared with the general population, psychiatric patients revealed significantly higher burden of metabolic disorders. The overall prevalence of liver steatosis (CAP ≥ 233 dB/m) and fibrosis (LSM ≥ 7.0 kPa) was 48.7% and 15.5% in psychiatric patients. Psychiatric patients with liver steatosis or fibrosis showed worse metabolic profile. Meanwhile, the prevalence of liver fibrosis was also significantly higher in patients with overweight, central obesity, diabetes, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, and liver steatosis. In logistic regression analyses, age, BMI and visceral adiposity index were independent risk factors for liver fibrosis in psychiatric patients. Additionally, antipsychotic medication was suggested to be associated with an increased risk of liver fibrosis in psychiatric patients with liver steatosis. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of liver steatosis and fibrosis is high in Chinese psychiatric patients. Those with antipsychotic polypharmacy and obesity are at high risk, and may benefit from early liver assessment in preventing fibrosis progression. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12888-023-04684-1.