Metabolic effects of risperidone on patients with psychosis in a tertiary care hospital of Myanmar

Background: Risperidone, a second generation antipsychotics, used to treat many psychotic conditions is related with obesity, hyperlipidemia, type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

Objective: To find out the metabolic effects of risperidone on patients with psychosis in a tertiary care hospital of Myanmar

Method: A hospital based before and after observational study was done on 37 male patients with psychosis who were treated with risperidone. Anthropometric parameters (weight, body mass index, waist hip ratio), clinical parameters (systolic and diastolic blood pressure), biochemical parameters (fasting total cholesterol, fasting high density lipoprotein, fasting low density lipoprotein, fasting triglyceride and fasting blood glucose) were determined before and at one, two, three months of risperidone therapy.

Results: After three months of treatment with risperidone at doses ranging from 2 to 6 mg, there were significant alterations in various anthropometric, clinical, and biochemical parameters among participants. Notably, there was a marked increase in body weight from an average of 55.8 kg to 61.6 kg (p<0.001) and in BMI from 20.5 to 22.5 (p<0.001). The waist-hip ratio rose from 0.84 to 0.89 (p<0.001), while systolic blood pressure increased from 119.7 to 125.7 (p=0.001) and diastolic blood pressure from 77.3 to 83.2 (p<0.001). Total cholesterol levels increased from an average of 169.4 to 185.7 (p=0.027), and triglyceride levels increased from 127.2 to 170.7 (p=0.007). However, there were no statistically significant changes observed in high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, and fasting blood glucose levels.

Conclusion: The results of the study underscore the metabolic effects associated with risperidone therapy, necessitating vigilant monitoring by healthcare providers to manage potential adverse metabolic outcomes effectively.