The schizophrenic patients have a standardized mortality rate greater than expected for the rest of the population. The metabolic syndrome has high prevalence among them, that prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in schizophrenic patients and the sociodemographic, antropometric, clinical, and psychopharmacological variables which are related to it. We aimed to know the coronary risk and its relation with the metabolic syndrome.

Cross-sectional study. We include 136 patients, between 18 and 65 years old, admitted throughout the year 2004 in the Hospital Universitario de Gran Canaria Dr. Negrín with a schizophrenic diagnose and more than two years of evolution, validated through the SCID-I. Metabolic syndrome and coronary risk were defined according to the criteria of the NCEP-ATP III.

The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was 36% (95% CI = 29.4 - 45.59). It is outstanding the high prevalence of abdominal obesity (78.7%) in women. We can't find any relation between the metabolic syndrome and the different studied variables. The coronary risk in the next 10 years is moderate in 52.3% and high in 2.9% of the cases. The increase in the risk associates with suffering the metabolic syndrome and taking antipsychotics.

The metabolic syndrome is highly prevalent in schizophrenic patients and, therefore, the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of its components is an essential aim to reduce the cardiovascular risk of these subjects.