Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in female and male patients at risk of psychosis

Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) is one of the most common factors underlying the high rate of mortality observed in patients with schizophrenia. Recent research on this topic revealed that many of the patients studied were, in fact, in a medicated state. As such, it is unclear whether MetS is causally associated with the disorder itself or the medication used to treat it. In this study, patients with a clinically high risk of expressing first episode psychosis (CHR) were examined regarding the prevalence of MetS. N = 144 unmedicated and antipsychotic-naïve CHR patients, aged between 18 and 42 years and suffering from unmanifested prodromal symptoms, were compared with a cohort of N = 3995 individuals from the “German Metabolic and Cardiovascular Risk Study” (GEMCAS). A slightly higher prevalence of individual MetS criteria was observed in the CHR group compared to the GEMCAS sample; specifically, the following were noted: a higher blood pressure (35.0% vs. 28.0%), increased waist circumference (17.6% vs. 15.1%), and increased fasting blood glucose (9.4% vs. 4.0%) in CHR patients. Additionally, the rate of reduced HDL cholesterol concentrations was lower in the control group (20.2% vs. 13.3%).