Assessment of a point-of-care metabolic risk screening program in outpatients receiving antipsychotic agents.

Study Objective: To assess the usefulness of a metabolic risk screening program, including point-of-care glucose testing, to quantify baseline metabolic risk in outpatients receiving antipsychotics.

Design: Retrospective, cross-sectional, cohort study.

Setting: University-affiliated department of psychiatry clinic.

Patients: A total of 92 adult outpatients (49 women, 43 men; mean +/- SD age 38.96 +/- 12 yrs) who were receiving antipsychotics and had undergone screening for metabolic syndrome at the clinic during 2004-2007.

Measurements And Main Results: Patient data were recorded on a metabolic screening checklist by a pharmacist or nurse. The checklist captured demographics, vital signs (height, weight, body mass index [BMI], blood pressure, waist and hip circumference, point-of-care random glucose level), personal and family knowledge of current illnesses (diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidemia), modifiable risk factors (smoking, alcohol, level of activity), current drug therapy, and recommendations to the psychiatrist. The patient population who underwent screening included 49 African-Americans (53%), 21 Caucasians (23%), 16 Hispanics (17%), and 6 Asians (7%). Diagnoses were documented for 88 patients: schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder in 53 patients (60%), and bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder was equally divided in the remaining 35 patients (40%). Of 89 patients (three patients had missing data on waist circumference), 63 (71%) met criteria for level 1 metabolic risk (abdominal obesity); of these 63 patients, 38 (60%) met criteria for level 2 risk (abdominal obesity plus hypertension). Patients with a random glucose level greater than 140 mg/dl had a higher likelihood for being at level 2 risk than level 1 risk (chi(2)=5.99, df=1, p=0.014). Women had a significantly higher likelihood for level 1 metabolic risk compared with men (chi(2)=5.99, df=1, p=0.019). African-Americans had a significantly higher likelihood of level 1 risk (p=0.026) and BMI greater than 30 kg/m(2) (p=0.003) compared with Caucasians. Patients with a BMI greater than 30 kg/m(2) had a significantly higher likelihood of diabetes (p=0.006), hypertension (p=0.03), and hyperlipidemia (p=0.05). Overall, 5 (5%) of the 92 patients met criteria for prediabetes risk.

Conclusion: Point-of-care metabolic risk screening, done with a systematic interprofessional team approach, can provide clinicians with a practical method for identifying metabolic risk in patients prescribed antipsychotics.