We recommend an increased focus on monitoring the QTc interval in women with schizophrenia receiving antipsychotics as polypharmacy.

Most patients decreased or stabilized their total dose of antipsychotic medication during the study period. Many patients were subject to antipsychotic polypharmacy. The extent of participation in the lifestyle intervention program did not correlate with the changes in dosing of antipsychotic medication.

Background: Lifestyle interventions aimed at reducing cardiovascular risk factors in patients with first-episode schizophrenia (FES) have shown modest efficacy, probably owing to a short observation period and the presumption of linear trajectories of cardiovascular risk factors. Study Question: How prevalent are abnormal cardiovascular values in patients with FES and how do cardiovascular risk factors develop during a 30-month program? Study Design: A 30-month naturalistic longitudinal study of 136 consecutively referred patients with FES from 2 outpatient clinics. The health-promoting program consisted of individual guidance, group sessions, and normal treatment and care. Measures and Outcomes: The prevalence of abnormal cardiovascular risk factors (body mass index, waist circumference (WC), body fat percentage, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, pulse, total cholesterol, high- and low-density lipoproteins, triglycerides, mean glucose, and visceral adiposity index) was estimated at index. The cardiovascular risk factor trajectories were analyzed with longitudinal mixed-effect models. Results: The patient with FES showed elevated cardiovascular risk factors at index. Thus, 56.8% of the patients were overweight in different grades and 50.4% had increased WC. A total of 81.8% had high level of body fat and hypertension prevalence with only 20% with normal blood pressure. Important changes during the intervention period were that the risk factors weight and WC were increasing the first 581 and 646 days, after which they decreased. Almost all cardiovascular risk factors worsened initially, improving after 1–2 years. Conclusions: Patients with FES show increases in cardiovascular risk factors at index. Short observation periods and the presumption of linear trajectories may indicate that the effect of health-promoting programs is ineffective, as the effects are curvilinear and improvements appear only after 1 year. The implication clinically is the importance of a long intervention period regarding lifestyle modifications to ascertain improvement among patients with FES.

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Purpose: Becoming widowed is a stressful health-threatening event causing major life changes. We explored how widowed people experience becoming widowed and examined if these experiences are quantitatively associated with widowhood. Methods: A multi-methods study using an exploratory sequential mixed-methods approach including a qualitative descriptive study with widowed people from Denmark and a Swedish cohort study. Qualitative interviews (n = 9) were analysed using qualitative content analysis, describing experiences as explained by the widowed people. The quantitative association of the experiences was examined by identifying proxies for the qualitative experiences of widowhood in the cohort study and examining the occurrence in widowed people compared to married people (n = 1,095). Results: Six categories of experiences emerged: the circumstances around spousal death, mental health and well-being, physical health, social relations, activities and practicalities. The quantitative examination showed a significant association with widowhood regarding mental and physical health problems. Conclusion:The circumstances around spousal death and the time before spousal death, in general, were important to how participants felt being widowed. Being ill negatively affected mental health and well-being, partly because of the inability to participate in activities and social relations. This is important, as health problems are more common among widowed people than married people.

IntroductionPatients with schizophrenia have 3-fold higher mortality from lifestyle diseases, and a long-lasting exposure to antipsychotic medication may contribute to the development of somatic illnesses. Region of Central Jutland was inspired by European initiatives to establish a lifestyle intervention program in an attempt to reduce mortality among individuals with severe mental illness.ObjectivesTo investigate whether this intervention could possibly lower the need for antipsychotic treatment, and to provide a unique view of actual medication practice.AimsTo investigate the influence of a lifestyle intervention program on changes in antipsychotic medication and polypharmacy in an unselected cohort of patients with newly diagnosed schizophrenia.MethodsObservational study of outpatients participating in a program with individual consultations, group sessions and exercise groups.ResultsOne hundred and eleven patients were eligible for analysis. Fifty-four percent of the patients were subject to antipsychotic monotherapy. Median Defined Daily Dose (DDD) of antipsychotics was 1.3 at index (interquartile range [IQR] 0.67–2.00). Fifty-two percent of the patients experienced a decrease in DDD during the period with median change of −0.33 DDD (IQR −1.00 to 0.43). We found no significant difference in baseline variables or extend of participation between patients with decrease in doses and patients with increase (Fig. 1).ConclusionsMost patients decreased or stabilized their doses of antipsychotic medication during the study period. Half of the patients were subject to antipsychotic polypharmacy. Extend and type of participation in the lifestyle intervention program did not correlate to changes in dosing of antipsychotic medication.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.Fig. 1Change in total DDD from index to follow-up (111 patients).

IntroductionAntipsychotics are associated with the polymorphic ventricular tachycardia, Torsade's de pointes, which in worst case can lead to sudden cardiac death. The QTc interval is used as a clinical proxy for Torsade's de pointes. QTc interval is prolonged by monotherapy with antipsychotic, but it is unknown if the QTc interval is prolonged further with antipsychotic polypharmacy.ObjectivesTo investigate the associations between QTc interval and antipsychotic mono- and polypharmaceutical treatment, respectively, in schizophrenic patients.AimsTo learn more about the impact of antipsychotics on the QTc interval.MethodsAn observational cohort study of unselected patients with schizophrenia visiting outpatient facilities in the Region of Central Jutland, Denmark. Patients were enrolled from January 2013 through March 2015 with follow-up until June 2015. Data was collected from clinical interviews and clinical case records.ResultsECGs were available in 58 patients receiving antipsychotic treatment. We observed no difference in average QTc interval for the whole sample of patients receiving monotherapy or polypharmacy (P = 0.29). However, women presented longer QTc-interval on polypharmacy than on monotherapy (P = 0.01).ConclusionWe recommend an increased focus on monitoring the QTc interval in woman with schizophrenia receiving antipsychotics as polypharmacy.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.