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Pharmacopsychiatry 2021; 54(02): 68-74
DOI: 10.1055/a-1353-6544
Original Paper

Sex-specific Association of Antipsychotic-induced Weight Gain and Treatment Response for Antipsychotic-Naive First Episode Schizophrenia Patients: A Prospective 8-week Longitudinal Study

Hui Shi
1   Department of Clinical Psychology, Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
,
Xiao Ni Guan
2   Peking University Hui Long Guan Clinical Medical School, Beijing Hui Long Guan Hospital, Beijing, China
,
Dian Ying Liu
3   Department of Psychiatry, The Third People’s Hospital of Ganzhou, Ganzhou, Jiangxi, China
,
Lin Zhu
3   Department of Psychiatry, The Third People’s Hospital of Ganzhou, Ganzhou, Jiangxi, China
,
Zhi Wei Wu
4   Department of Psychiatry, Shenzhen Kangning Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
5   Shenzhen Mental Health center. Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
,
Guo Zhi Luo
4   Department of Psychiatry, Shenzhen Kangning Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
5   Shenzhen Mental Health center. Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
,
Jun Wang
2   Peking University Hui Long Guan Clinical Medical School, Beijing Hui Long Guan Hospital, Beijing, China
,
Mei Hong Xiu 
2   Peking University Hui Long Guan Clinical Medical School, Beijing Hui Long Guan Hospital, Beijing, China
,
Xiang Yang Zhang
6   CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
› Author Affiliations Funding: Funding for this study was provided by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81000509).
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Abstract

Background Patients with antipsychotic-naïve first-episode (ANFE) schizophrenia (SZ) can help clarify many confounding factors in determining sex differences in antipsychotic drug induced weight gain and its association with symptom improvement.

Methods This 8-week longitudinal trial of ANFE patients with SZ enrolled 526 patients and 313 healthy controls. We evaluated bodyweight and the efficacy of antipsychotics on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) at baseline and at the end of week 8.

Results Males and females after treatment showed no sex difference in weight gain, BMI increase, and percentage of weight gain. However, at baseline, male patients had more positive symptoms than female patients, and decreases in positive symptoms, general psychopathology, and total PANSS scores were less in male than female patients. Adjusting for confounding factors using multiple linear regression confirmed that weight gain was significantly associated with these decreases in PANSS symptoms only in men not women.

Conclusions The relationship between weight gain and symptom reduction after 8 weeks of antipsychotic treatment exists only in male patients with ANFE SZ and not in female patients.

Key words

schizophrenia, sex difference, weight gain - therapeutic response - body mass index


Publication History

Received: 12 August 2020
Received: 21 December 2020

Accepted: 11 January 2021

Article published online:
24 February 2021

© 2021. Thieme. All rights reserved.

Georg Thieme Verlag KG
Rüdigerstraße 14, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany

 

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