Prevalence of obesity, lipid and glucose abnormalities in outpatients prescribed clozapine.

Abstract

Individuals with schizophrenia have standardised mortality rates which are double that of the general population. In addition to suicide, high rates of cardiovascular and respiratory disease contribute to this raised mortality rate. Although clozapine has been reported to improve psychotic symptoms and decrease suicide rates, attention has recently focussed on its potential to increase cardiovascular risk factors including obesity, dyslipidemia and diabetes mellitus. This study aimed to ascertain the prevalence of these risk factors in a cohort of Irish outpatients treated with clozapine.