Nutritional Status of Schizophrenic Patients Attending Outpatient Department of Psychiatry in Dr.Hasan Sadikin Hospital

Abstract

Background: Nowadays, schizophrenia is associated with many health problems due to weight changes caused by lifestyle changes and consumption of antipsychotic drugs (APDs). Nutritional status assessment is needed in order to lower the comorbidity by early detection of risk factors. Methods: This descriptive type of cross-sectional study involved 94 schizophrenic patients selected using consecutive sampling on October 2012. An anthropometric measurement was verified (body mass index and waist circumference), physical activity level, type of antipsychotic drugs (APDs) used and duration of treatment acquired from medical records. Results: Among the subjects, 29.8 % were aged 28-37 years old, with 69.1 % were male and 30.9 % female. Most of them were paranoid schizophrenia (71.3 %). Body Mass Index of 46.8 % subjects were normal, 45.74 % were overweight, whereas 7.45 % were underweight. Male subjects mostly had lower waist circumference result (78 %) compared to female which were dominantly above normal (52 %). Physical activity levels were mostly sedentary (76 %). Single typical APDs were dominantly prescribed (46 %). Subjects with normal Body Mass Index were mostly found among single typical APDs prescribers (53.5 %), whereas the majority of atypical APDs users were overweight (61.9 %). A total of 63 % subjects had been prescribed APDs for 1-5 years, dominated by subjects with normal Body Mass Index (78 %). Conclusion: The majority of study subjects (46.8 %) were found normal in Body Mass Index. Male subject mostly had normal waist circumference (78 %) while females were higher in risk whose measurement above normal were dominant (52 %).