Frequency of metabolic syndrome in psychiatric patients, is this the time to develop a standardized protocol to reduce the morbidity from an acute care psychiatry unit

Objective: To determine the frequency of Metabolic Syndrome among psychiatric patients and to look for the correlation between the two medical conditions. Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted from February to April 2013 at the acute care psychiatry inpatient unit at Kingston General Hospital, Ontario, Canada, and comprised adult patients of both genders diagnosed under the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition. For Metabolic Syndrome, definitions outlined by the International Diabetes Federation were used. The patients were divided into two groups on the basis of presence or absence of the Syndrome and were compared for clinical and demographic characteristics. SPSS 22 was used for statistical analysis. Results: Of the 50 patients in the study, 24(48%) were found to have Metabolic Syndrome. Besides, 40(80%) patients were taking atypical antipsychotics regardless of the diagnosis; 20(83%) among those with the Syndrome, and 20(77%) among those without it. Conclusions: Patients at high risk of developing metabolic syndrome need to be identified early so that an individualised care plan can be formulated. Identifying the variables to make a management plan is vital.