BackgroundHypothermia is a rare, but potentially fatal adverse effect of antipsychotic drug (APD) use. Although the opposite condition, hyperthermia, has been researched extensively in the context of the malignant antipsychotic syndrome, little is known about hypothermia due to APDs.ObjectiveThis study aimed to review the literature on hypothermia in the context of APD use, and formulate implications for research and clinical care.MethodsA systematic search was made in PubMed and Ovid Medline.ResultsThe literature search yielded 433 articles, including 57 original case descriptions of hypothermia developed during APD use with non-toxic plasma levels. All cases together indicate that the risk of developing hypothermia is highest during the 7 days following initiation, or increase in dosage, of APDs, especially in the presence of additional predisposing factors, such as advanced age, exposure to cold, adjuvant use of benzodiazepines, and (subclinical) hypothyroidism. In addition, data derived from drug-monitoring agencies suggest that the prevalence of APD-related hypothermia is at least 10 times higher than suggested by the literature.ConclusionWe conclude that health-care professionals need to monitor the body temperature of patients starting with (an increased dose of) APDs for a duration of 7–10 days to prevent hypothermia, especially in the presence of multiple risk factors. Moreover, systematic studies are needed to establish the actual prevalence of APD-related hypothermia as well as the relative risk for individual APDs.
Background: Hypothermia is a potentially fatal adverse effect of antipsychotic drug (APD) use. With only 69 cases described in the literature, the condition is considered rare. Methods: We describe five new cases, in which we estimated the role of clozapine, haloperidol, olanzapine, penfluridol, risperidone, and zuclopentixol with the aid of two structured assessment tools. Results: In addition to APD use, all five patients described by us had been exposed to one or more additional predisposing factors for hypothermia. Therefore, with the aid of the assessment tools, the causal role of APDs was considered “possible” in four cases of moderate hypothermia and “doubtful” in the remaining one of mild hypothermia. Conclusion: Although the best way to detect APD-related hypothermia is measuring the body temperature for a duration of at least 7–10 days after the start (or a dose increase) of APDs, the use of assessment tools to identify additional predisposing factors for hypothermia and to thus establish their causal relationship with APD use would seem to be valuable for clinical decision-making (i.e., whether or not to discontinue APD use). Further research is needed to obtain reliable prevalence figures for APD-related hypothermia and its consequences, preferably in relation with physiological changes in body temperature.
Gastrointestinal symptoms and their relation to physical and mental aspects in adults with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are poorly understood, despite their high prevalence. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine psychological, behavioural and biological factors associated with gastrointestinal symptoms in adults with ASD (traits). We included 31,185 adults from the Lifelines Study. Using multivariable logistic regression, we analysed the association between gastrointestinal symptoms and psychological, behavioural (questionnaire-assessed) and physically measured biological factors in adults with ASD ( n = 309), without ASD ( n = 30,876), and in the quartiles with highest ( n = 7783) and lowest ( n = 7783) Autism Spectrum Quotient-10 sum scores. In the ASD-group, gastrointestinal symptoms were associated with psychiatric comorbidity (odds ratio: 2.71, 95% confidence interval: 1.51–4.85), more stress (odds ratio: 1.15, 95% confidence interval: 1.06–1.26), and worse perceived health (odds ratio: 2.32, 95% confidence interval: 1.62–3.34). In the quartile with the highest Autism Spectrum Quotient-10 sum scores, gastrointestinal symptoms were also associated with these psychological factors, and with less physical activity (odds ratio: 0.95, 95% confidence interval: 0.92–0.98). Our study demonstrates that not only adults with ASD but also adults with autistic traits are at increased risk for gastrointestinal symptoms, which is associated with psychological and behavioural factors. This suggests that an integrated psychosomatic approach of gastrointestinal symptoms in adults with ASD (traits) is needed. Lay abstract Little is known about factors related to the increased risk for gastrointestinal symptoms in adults with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), while the negative impact of gastrointestinal symptoms is evident. Especially, the relationship between gastrointestinal symptoms and psychological, behavioural, and biological risk factors in adults with ASD (traits) is unclear. Autistic peer support workers and autism-advocates also emphasised the importance of identifying risk factors, because of the high prevalence of gastrointestinal problems in people with ASD. Therefore, our study investigated which psychological, behavioural, and biological factors are associated with gastrointestinal symptoms in adults with ASD or with autistic traits. We analysed data from 31,185 adults in the Dutch Lifelines Study. Questionnaires were used to evaluate the presence of an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, autistic traits, gastrointestinal symptoms, psychological and behavioural factors. Biological factors were examined with body measurements. We found that not only adults with ASD but also adults with higher levels of autistic traits were at increased risk for gastrointestinal symptoms. Adults with ASD who experienced psychological problems (psychiatric problems, worse perceived health, chronic stress) had a higher risk for gastrointestinal symptoms than adults with ASD without these psychological problems. Moreover, adults with higher levels of autistic traits were less physically active, which was also associated with gastrointestinal symptoms. In conclusion, our study highlights the relevance of identifying psychological problems and evaluating physical activity when trying to help adults with ASD or autistic traits and gastrointestinal symptoms. This suggests that healthcare professionals should be more aware of behavioural and psychological risk factors when evaluating gastrointestinal symptoms in adults with ASD (traits).
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