To study the rate of Diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome and associated factors in schizophrenic patients in comparison to a healthy control group.

Matched case-control.

Hamad General Hospital and PHC Centres in Qatar Subjects: 233 schizophrenic with diabetes and metabolic syndrome and in comparison to 613 healthy subjects matched age/gender.

Questionnaire covering socio-demographic characteristics, life-style habits, genetic, biochemistry values and diagnostic screening questionnaire and confirmed using DSM-IV criteria.

The study revealed statistically significant differences between cases and controls regarding ethnicity (p < 0.001), marital status p < 0.001), educational (p < 0.03), occupation (p < 0.001), income (p < 0.001), place of living (p < 0.001), consanguineous marriages (p < .007) and obesity (p = 0.004), family history DM (p = 0.048) and smoking (p = 0.002). History of schizophrenia among parents of cases (27%) was higher than control (14% p < .001). Mean waist circumference was higher (102.7 ± 11 cm) among cases than controls (93.7 ± 12.3, p < .001). Mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure was higher among cases than controls (131.1 ± 15.8 vs. 128.2 ± 16.4, p 0.025 & 81.3 ± 9.5 vs. 79.7 ± 10.4, p 0.047 respectively). Schizophrenic with DM and MS were 12.5 times more likely to be diagnosed with HTN. The logistic regression showed that predictors of schizophrenia with DM and MS were marital status, family history of schizophrenia, family history of hypertension, family history of DM, high density lipoprotein, (p < 0.001).

The study confirmed that DM, obesity and metabolic syndrome are common among patients with schizophrenia, and it may be far more common than in general population.