Metabolic Syndrome and Cardiovascular Risk in People Treated with Long-Acting Injectable Antipsychotics

BACKGROUND People with schizophrenia and other severe mental disorders have an increased mortality mainly attributed to natural causes, specifically cardiovascular disease and cancer. The metabolic syndrome and the Framingham Risk Score are epidemiologic tools related to long-term cardiovascular disease risk and they are increased in people with severe mental disorders. This increase has been attributed both to the disorder itself and to the use of antipsychotic drugs. OBJECTIVE To quantify the cardiovascular risk in a group of people treated with long-acting injectable antipsychotics. METHODS This is a cross-sectional study developed in an outpatient mental health clinic in which the preva…