Negative correlation between PANSS negative subscale score and obesity in a chronic group of patients with schizophrenia, an observational study

Abstract

Background. Schizophrenia, as a chronic mental disorder with lifelong evolution is associated with low functionality and a high degree of disability. Obesity is an overlapping risk factor that is present in almost half of the patients worldwide and is responsible for increasing the overall mortality by itself or by predisposing to extensive morbidity. Its pathophysiology describes many mechanisms, the central position being occupied by the appetite regulation throughout the lipids and glucose metabolism. It is important to analyze whether the trends of correlation pairs of obesity in schizophrenia in Romanian patients are similar to those described in literature and if they are depicted in smaller groups of patients. Methods. This study paper is an observational cross-sectional study taking into account 110 inpatients with schizophrenia. The study included 110 inpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia admitted in ”Prof. Dr. Alexandru Obregia” Psychiatry Hospital. They were divided into two groups by applying the criterium of BMI with a cut-off point set at 25 and were applied PANSS and GAFs altogether with a structured basic anamnestic interview. Results. The mean age of the patients was 39.15 years in the study group (SG) and 40.95 years in the control group (CG), the sex ratio was similar between the two groups. Regarding previous treatment, 59.3% normal weight patients were priorly medicated and 38.1% of those with BMI>25 received prior treatment. Both groups had a similar mean value of the positive and the general psychopathology subscales, the SG registered a slightly higher mean score on the negative subscale as well as on the total PANSS score. The mean value of Global Assessment of Functioning score was higher for the normal weight group. Discussion. Our findings point out that only PANSS negative subscale score has a negative statistical correlation (p=.005) with obesity in the chronic schizophrenic group we selected. No other statistically significant correlations between sex, age, place of living, education, employment and professional statuses, previous treatment, current antipsychotic medication and obesity were made possible due to reasons such as study design choice or the large number of obese patients related to the entire sample. Conclusion. There is an important number of schizophrenia patients that are overweight or obese. We found no major differences between the two groups on the topic of demographics or clinical variables, resulting in the conclusion that schizophrenia carries an important morbidity load, so that obesity can indiscriminately impact these patients.