Gender differences in metabolic syndrome risk factors among patients with serious mental illness

Abstract

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its components continue to increase among patients with serious mental illness. This cross‐sectional study investigated whether metabolic syndrome prevalence and risk factors differ between male and female patients with serious mental illness. In total, 260 eligible patients were recruited from two hospitals. The data on demographic characteristics, lifestyle behaviour factors, biochemistry, and anthropometry were collected. Analyses were performed using multivariate logistic regression. Metabolic syndrome prevalence was 40.8% (35.1% in men and 46.8% in women). Among patients aged 40–49 years, metabolic syndrome prevalence was higher in men; however, the trend was reversed among patients aged 50 years or older. Notably, gender‐specific metabolic syndrome risk factors were observed. In men, they included low education level, high body mass index (BMI), prolonged illness, comorbid physical illness, and diagnosis of bipolar disorder, whereas they included being married, old age, and high BMI in women. Our findings suggest that mental health professionals should consider the gender‐ and age‐based metabolic syndrome prevalence trend in patients with serious mental illness when designing interventions for the study population to minimize metabolic syndrome prevalence.

Gender differences in metabolic syndrome and its components in southern china using a healthy lifestyle index: a cross-sectional study

“…Our study showed a significantly higher prevalence of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, abdominal obesity, and MetS in males than in females. However, some other studies have found that the prevalence of MetS was higher in females than in males [ 44 , 45 ]. The different results from different studies may be explained by the differences in hormones, lipid metabolism, population diversity, cultural behaviors, lifestyle habits, and the use of different diagnostic criteria.…”

Comparative Characteristics of the Metabolic Syndrome Prevalence in Patients With Schizophrenia in Three Western Siberia Psychiatric Hospitals

“…As a result of constructing a multiple regression model, in which the value of the presence/absence of MetS acted as a dependent variable, there was a weak regression equation, that is, the studied predictors are weakly related to this variable. According to the results of other multivariate logistic regression analysis, the risk of developing MetS in people with mental disorders, is associated with different factors: in men, they include low educational level, high BMI, long duration of mental illness, concomitant chronic physical diseases and diagnosed bipolar disorder, while in women, aggravating factors include high BMI, marriage, and older age (52). The results obtained in our study indicate that the duration of schizophrenia, BMI, and the characteristics of antipsychotic therapy are not key factors in the development of MetS in patients with schizophrenia.…”

Dietary Management in Individuals With Serious Mental Illness and Comorbid Diabetes: A Focused Ethnography Study

“…A comprehensive review of the literature from 1966 to 2010 revealed the likelihood of patients with SMIs developing Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) to be 2–3 times that of the general population (Ronne et al, 2020). Moreover, the prevalence of T2DM in patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder are, respectively, 32.5%, 37.3%, and 30.5% (Tzeng et al, 2020). Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database has also revealed that, compared with the general population, patients with SMIs, especially those 60 years old or younger, develop T2DM more easily and receive medication for antihyperglycemia and antihyperlipidemia earlier in life (Bai et al, 2013; Chien et al, 2012; J. H. Hsu et al, 2011).…”