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Body mass index and functioning in long-term schizophrenia
Results of the DSP project
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 April 2020
Abstract
The study evaluates the association of body mass index (BMI) with functioning in male and female patients with long-term schizophrenia.
722 long-term schizophrenia patients were interviewed three years after discharge from hospital. Their weight and height were recorded and data on their background, illness history, psychosocial functioning (Global Assessment Scale; GAS), health behaviour, daily doses of neuroleptics, and psychiatric symptoms were collected.
BMI correlated significantly with GAS scores in male (r = 0.202, p = 0.000) but not in female patients. In male patients, BMI associated significantly (p = 0.005) with GAS scores even when the effects of psychiatric symptoms and other confounding variables were taken into account.
In male but not in female long-term patients with schizophrenia, low BMI associates with poor functioning. It is suggested that among male schizophrenia patients, low BMI may be an indicator of poor functioning.
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- Copyright © Elsevier Masson SAS 2007
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Declaration of interest: None.
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