Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome in Patients with Schizophrenia Referred to Farabi Hospital, Kermanshah, Iran.

OBJECTIVES Our study was conducted to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in patients with schizophrenia. METHODS The study population included all patients with schizophrenia who were referred to Farabi Hospital, Kermanshah, Iran, between March 2014 and March 2015. A total of 280 subjects who met the study criteria were selected according to the census sampling method. RESULTS The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 30.4% (20.7% in men and 51.5% in women). The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was greater in patients > 40 years than patients aged 20-40 years. There was a significant relationship between marital status and number of hospitalizations with the prevalence of metabolic syndrome. CONCLUSIONS Given the high prevalence of metabolic syndrome in patients with schizophrenia, healthcare professionals should take measures to identify the risk factors and timely treatment of affected patients, thereby improving the patient's quality of life and reducing health costs.