Urban Ösby M.D., Ph.D., Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet , Stockholm , and Department of Psychiatry , Tiohundra AB, Box 905, SE-761 29 Norrtälje , Sweden.
Psychosis is associated with excess cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.
To determine the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in patients with psychotic disorders compared with the population.
731 consecutive patients with psychosis recruited from psychiatric outpatient clinics in Stockholm County, Sweden, were compared with 5580 individuals from a population study performed in the same area. The main outcome measures were waist circumference, body mass index (BMI) and fasting glucose.
Mean waist circumference in patients vs. controls was for males 106 and 94 cm, respectively, and for females 97 and 85 cm, respectively (P