Primary care-based educational interventions to decrease risk factors for metabolic syndrome for adults with major psychotic and/or affective disorders: a systematic review

BACKGROUND: Individuals with major psychotic and/or affective disorders are at increased risk for developing metabolic syndrome due to lifestyle- and treatment-related factors. Numerous pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions have been tested in inpatient and outpatient mental health settings to decrease these risk factors. This review focuses on primary care-based non-pharmacological (educational or behavioral) interventions to decrease metabolic syndrome risk factors in adults with major psychotic and/or affective disorders. METHODS: The authors conducted database searches of PsychINFO, MEDLINE and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, as well as manual searches and gray literature searches to identify included studies. RESULTS: The authors were unable to identify any studies meeting a priori inclusion criteria because there were no primary care-based studies. CONCLUSIONS: This review was unable to demonstrate effectiveness of educational interventions in primary care. Interventions to decrease metabolic syndrome risk have been demonstrated to be effective in mental health and other outpatient settings. The prevalence of mental illness in primary care settings warrants similar interventions to improve health outcomes for this population.