Therapy Curbs Weight Gain from Antipsychotics

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Antipsychotic drugs used to treat people with schizophrenia and other mental conditions are known to promote weight gain, but that problem can be controlled with behavioral therapy, according to researchers.

Dr. Melissa A. Kalarchian, from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and colleagues examined the benefit of a 12-week group behavioral weight control program for 35 outpatients taking antipsychotic medications, who were all classified as obese.

Twenty-nine patients completed treatment and, on average, they lost 5 pounds. However, while twenty patients lost weight during treatment, nine gained weight, the investigators report in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Three months after the program ended, 27 patients had lost a total of 7 pounds on average. Those who completed the program also had improvements in eating, physical activity and quality of life.

Older patients and those who had been taking antipsychotic medications for a greater number of years tended to be heavier initially and to experience larger weight losses with treatment, compared with younger patients and those who had been taking medications for fewer years, Kalarchian's team reports.

The investigators note that other factors may be related to weight control. "Further research is needed to pinpoint sources of variability in outcome and to tailor the psychoeducational, dietary, and behavioral components of the intervention to the unique needs of particular subgroups of patients," they write.

SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, August 2005.