Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

Typical and Atypical Antipsychotic induced weight gain (AIWG) and its metabolic correlates among male forensic inpatients in Cape Town, South Africa

Antipsychotic induced weight gain (AIWG) is a well described phenomenon in psychiatric literature. However, there is a dearth of information on its prevalence in patients admitted to forensic units. Forensic inpatients are at heightened risk for weight gain and Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) due to long...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Nadvi, Syed
Other Authors: De Clercq, Helena
Format: Thesis
Language:Eng
Published: Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health 2025
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867613144909611008
access_status_str Open Access
author Nadvi, Syed
author2 De Clercq, Helena
author_browse De Clercq, Helena
Nadvi, Syed
author_facet De Clercq, Helena
Nadvi, Syed
author_sort Nadvi, Syed
collection Thesis
description Antipsychotic induced weight gain (AIWG) is a well described phenomenon in psychiatric literature. However, there is a dearth of information on its prevalence in patients admitted to forensic units. Forensic inpatients are at heightened risk for weight gain and Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) due to long term exposure to antipsychotic (AP) medications. Aim: We aimed to describe and compare the weight changes and metabolic profile of male forensic state patients exposed to typical and atypical AP and identify modifiable risk factors, enabling us to determine if there is a significant difference between typical and atypical AP in the development of weight gain and MetS. Method: The study design was a retrospective folder review. The populations consisted of 75 male forensic state patients, stratified into those prescribed only atypical antipscyhotics (AAP) and those prescribed only typical antipsychotics (AP). The metabolic parameters on admission (From 2017) and at follow up (Up to 2022) were documented. Ethics approval was granted by the University's Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC). Results: An average increase of 17.7 kg weight from admission to follow-up across both groups, with a 35.1% and 25.1% increase in the atypical and typical groups respectively. There was a 46.2% increase in the incidence of MetS in the AAP group, compared to 40.1% in the typical AP group. Patients on AAP had a significantly larger absolute and % change in weight than those on typical AP (p= 0.01/0.025 respectively). Conclusion: This study is the first in a forensic unit in South Africa to show that all AP are associated with weight gain and MetS, with AAP having a significantly larger change in weight (p=0.01) . Further studies with larger sample sizes in other forensic state patient populations can be done to confirm associations found in our study.
format Thesis
id oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41272
institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language Eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:31:28.055Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2025
publishDateRange 2025
publishDateSort 2025
publisher Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health
publisherStr Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41272 Typical and Atypical Antipsychotic induced weight gain (AIWG) and its metabolic correlates among male forensic inpatients in Cape Town, South Africa Nadvi, Syed De Clercq, Helena Psychiatry and Mental Health Antipsychotic induced weight gain (AIWG) is a well described phenomenon in psychiatric literature. However, there is a dearth of information on its prevalence in patients admitted to forensic units. Forensic inpatients are at heightened risk for weight gain and Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) due to long term exposure to antipsychotic (AP) medications. Aim: We aimed to describe and compare the weight changes and metabolic profile of male forensic state patients exposed to typical and atypical AP and identify modifiable risk factors, enabling us to determine if there is a significant difference between typical and atypical AP in the development of weight gain and MetS. Method: The study design was a retrospective folder review. The populations consisted of 75 male forensic state patients, stratified into those prescribed only atypical antipscyhotics (AAP) and those prescribed only typical antipsychotics (AP). The metabolic parameters on admission (From 2017) and at follow up (Up to 2022) were documented. Ethics approval was granted by the University's Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC). Results: An average increase of 17.7 kg weight from admission to follow-up across both groups, with a 35.1% and 25.1% increase in the atypical and typical groups respectively. There was a 46.2% increase in the incidence of MetS in the AAP group, compared to 40.1% in the typical AP group. Patients on AAP had a significantly larger absolute and % change in weight than those on typical AP (p= 0.01/0.025 respectively). Conclusion: This study is the first in a forensic unit in South Africa to show that all AP are associated with weight gain and MetS, with AAP having a significantly larger change in weight (p=0.01) . Further studies with larger sample sizes in other forensic state patient populations can be done to confirm associations found in our study. 2025-03-27T11:04:29Z 2025-03-27T11:04:29Z 2024 2025-03-26T11:15:18Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters MMed http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41272 Eng application/pdf Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health Faculty of Health Sciences University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Psychiatry and Mental Health
Nadvi, Syed
Typical and Atypical Antipsychotic induced weight gain (AIWG) and its metabolic correlates among male forensic inpatients in Cape Town, South Africa
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Typical and Atypical Antipsychotic induced weight gain (AIWG) and its metabolic correlates among male forensic inpatients in Cape Town, South Africa
title_full Typical and Atypical Antipsychotic induced weight gain (AIWG) and its metabolic correlates among male forensic inpatients in Cape Town, South Africa
title_fullStr Typical and Atypical Antipsychotic induced weight gain (AIWG) and its metabolic correlates among male forensic inpatients in Cape Town, South Africa
title_full_unstemmed Typical and Atypical Antipsychotic induced weight gain (AIWG) and its metabolic correlates among male forensic inpatients in Cape Town, South Africa
title_short Typical and Atypical Antipsychotic induced weight gain (AIWG) and its metabolic correlates among male forensic inpatients in Cape Town, South Africa
title_sort typical and atypical antipsychotic induced weight gain aiwg and its metabolic correlates among male forensic inpatients in cape town south africa
topic Psychiatry and Mental Health
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41272
work_keys_str_mv AT nadvisyed typicalandatypicalantipsychoticinducedweightgainaiwganditsmetaboliccorrelatesamongmaleforensicinpatientsincapetownsouthafrica