Metabolic syndrome in patients with schizophrenia: Why should we care

Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a serious disease in patients with schizophrenia; it is necessary to evaluate the characteristics and influencing factors of MS to provide reliable evidence for the management of schizophrenia. Patients with schizophrenia treated in our hospital from January 1, 2018, to March 31, 2021, were selected. The characteristics and treatment details of MS and no-MS patients were evaluated. Pearson correlation analyses were applied for analyzing MS and related characteristics. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to evaluate the risk factors of MS in patients with schizophrenia. A total of 465 patients with schizophrenia were included, the incidence of MS in patients with schizophrenia was 18.06%. Pearson correlation analyses had found that age (r = 0.621), waist circumference (r = 0.744), body mass index (r = 0.691), diabetes (r = 0.598), course of disease (r = 0.504), triglyceride (r = 0.532), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (r = –0.518), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (r = 0.447), and total cholesterol (r = 0.523) were correlated with MS (all P < .05). Logistic regression analyses showed that age ≥55 years (odds ratio [OR]: 2.012, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.425–3.196), waist circumference ≥80 cm (OR: 1.944, 95% CI: 1.081–3.172), body mass index ≥24.5 kg/m(2) (OR: 2.451, 95% CI: 1.825–3.108), diabetes (OR: 2.301, 95% CI: 1.944–2.881), course of disease ≥15 years (OR: 1.804, 95% CI: 1.236–2.845), triglyceride ≥1.5 mmol/L (OR: 2.032, 95% CI: 1.614–3.079), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ≤0.8 mmol/L (OR: 1.226, 95% CI: 1.102–1.845), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ≥2 mmol/L (OR: 1.759, 95% CI: 1.236–1.987), and total cholesterol ≥4.5 mmol/L (OR: 1.664, 95% CI: 1.422–1.852) were the risk factors of MS in patients with schizophrenia (all P < .05). MS is very common in patients with schizophrenia, which may be associated with many possible risk factors, and early interventions and nursing care targeted at those influencing factors are needed to improve the prognosis of schizophrenia.