Metabolic syndrome among psychiatric inpatients with schizophrenia in Indonesia

• Report on metabolic syndrome (MetS) among psychiatric patients in Indonesia is rare.
• We surveyed the MetS among inpatients with schizophrenia using antipsychotics.
• Only around 9.3% of patients had MetS.
• No association between the presence of MetS and use of antipsychotics.
• Limited access to food was among the possible explanation.

Despite the fact that antipsychotic medication increases the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS), the rate of MetS among psychiatric patients in Indonesia is rarely reported. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of MetS among inpatients with schizophrenia in Indonesia. Eighty-six hospitalised psychiatric patients with schizophrenia were randomly recruited, and underwent physical examination including a blood test. MetS was assessed based on the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria for South Asia. Among the sample, only eight patients (9.3%) met the IDF criteria for MetS. Women have a higher rate of MetS than men (23.8% vs 4.6%; p = 0.02). Reduced high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol was the most frequent (81.4%) metabolic abnormality among them, followed by central obesity (29.1%), raised triglycerides (23.3%), raised fasting plasma glucose (12.8%), and raised blood pressure (10.5%). Among the various antipsychotics, no differences in MetS prevalence were observed in this population. The rate of MetS among the psychiatric inpatients in this study is lower compared both to the previously reported rate in the general population and to the findings among psychiatric patients with schizophrenia in developed countries. Several factors related to the reduced rate of MetS in this psychiatric inpatient population will be discussed.