The adverse metabolic risks associated with second generation antipsychotics (SGAs) are well known, and likely contribute to the high rate of premature mortality due to cardiovascular disease in schizophrenia. Female schizophrenia patients appear to be diagnosed with metabolic diseases at higher rates than males, which may reflect disparate adverse responses to SGAs. However, the relationship between sex, metabolic risk, and drug use is less developed. We aimed to explore this relationship further by identifying rates of metabolic disease in community dwelling schizophrenia patients by sex and SGA risk. Schizophrenia participants (N = 287, 40.4% female) were included in this analysis. Oneway-ANOVA and Fisher's Exact Test were used to compare groups, as appropriate, and Cohen's d was employed to estimate the effect size of sex. In the group as a whole, the rate of metabolic syndrome was higher than previously reported, but did not differ by sex. For females, greater metabolic disturbances across all medication risk groups were seen in BMI and waist circumference (p < 0.005) but most commonly in those receiving high risk medication (clozapine or olanzapine). Additionally, the number of participants receiving medications for these metabolic disturbances was extremely low (<30%). These results suggest that female schizophrenia patients taking clozapine or olanzapine represent a group at uniquely high risk for metabolic dysfunction and future adverse cardiovascular outcomes, and warrant close monitoring by clinicians to prevent worsening of metabolic risk through proper monitoring and interventions.
Keywords: antipsychotics; atypical antipsychotics; cardiovascular disease; metabolic syndrome; schizophrenia; sex differences.