Hjorth P, et al. - This study sought to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases in patients with schizophrenia. A probability was noted for women but not for men to reduce their risk factors for developing cardiovascular disease. This program was manageable in a majority of the outpatient clinics. It could be carried out by nursing staff interested in physical health with support from and in cooperation with medical doctors, psychiatrist and leaders/managers.

Methods

• The design of this research was a naturalistic follow-up study.
• It included 54 long-term-treated non-selected outpatients with schizophrenia.
• It incorporated individual guidance, group sessions and normal treatment and care offered in the clinic.

Results

• The recruited women reduced their waist circumference by 11.4 cm (P = 0.037).
• In contrast, the participating men increased their waist circumference by 3.3 cm (P = 0.590).
• The fast food consumption was reduced from 1.2 to 0.8 times/week (P = 0.016), just as their consumption of soft drinks was reduced from 0.7 to 0.1 l/day (P = 0.006).
• Coffee consumption increased from 1.6 to 2.5 cups/day (P = 0.086).
• The time women spent on light physical activity increased from 134 to 469 min/week (P = 0.055).
• It was determined that the number of daily cigarettes smoked was reduced by 25.7% for all smokers.