High prevalence of diabetes in those with severe mental illness

(HealthDay)—Antipsychotic-treated patients with severe mental illnesses (SMI) have a high prevalence of diabetes and prediabetes, according to a research letter published recently in Diabetes Care.

Christina V. Mangurian, M.D., from the University of California in San Francisco, and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study of adults with SMI in Kaiser Permanente Northern California to estimate the prevalence of diabetes and prediabetes.

The researchers found that the overall unadjusted prevalence of diabetes was 17.3 percent in the complete sample and 28.1 percent among those undergoing screening for diabetes. Among those screened, the prevalence of diabetes was higher among racial/ethnic minorities with SMI than among whites with SMI (36.3, 30.7, 36.9, and 25.1 percent for black, Asian Pacific Islander, Hispanic, and white, respectively), with disparities seen at early ages. The overall unadjusted prevalence of prediabetes was 33.0 percent in the complete sample and 46.9 percent among those screened. Among those screened, prevalence was higher among racial/ethnic minorities. Current smokers had increased prevalence of diabetes (19 versus 16 percent) and prediabetes (34 versus 32 percent) compared to nonsmokers with SMI.

"Given the value of prevention and treatment for diabetes, these results suggest that health care systems should implement diabetes prevention strategies that target antipsychotic-treated SMI populations early in their disease course, with a special emphasis on minorities and smokers," the authors write.

One author disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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