Background: Atypical antipsychotics are currently the most frequently prescribed class of drugs for psychotic illness. Weight gain and obesity are more problematic with atypical antipsychotics than with typical antipsychotics. Since weight gain contributes to non-compliance with treatment and may lead to medical morbidity, it is important to know and compare the weight gain associated with the use of most commonly prescribed atypical antipsychotics olanzapine and quetiapine at our set up.
Objective: Comparative evaluation of changes in body weight and body mass index (BMI) of psychotic patients treated with olanzapine and quetiapine in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Nepal.
Materials and Methods: This study was conducted in the Department of Neuropsychiatry, Nepalgunj Medical College & Teaching Hospital, Nepalgunj, for a period of 6 months between July to December 2014. A total of 40 patients suffering from psychotic disorders were included in the study and randomly allocated in two groups: Group-I (20 patients) received tablet olanzapine (1015 mg/day) and Group-II (20 patients) received tablet quetiapine (200600 mg/day). Patients were followed upto 6 weeks. All values were expressed in mean ± SD. The changes in body weight and BMI were measured at 0 and 6 weeks. Statistical analysis was done by using paired and unpaired T-test. p value < 0.05 was considered significant.
Result: Mean weight in group receiving olanzapine at 0 and 6 weeks was 54.59±6.72 kg and 58.75±6.76 kg, respectively and in quetiapine group was 55.37±5.63 kg and 57.18±5.93 kg, respectively (p < 0.0001). The mean BMI in olanzapine group at 0 and 6 weeks was 22.99±3.65 kg/m2 and 24.79±3.74 kg/m2, respectively (p < 0.01) and in quetiapine group was 22.18±1.70 and 22.95±1.82 kg/m2, respectively (p < 0.01). At 6 weeks, the intergroup comparison was done with respect to weight gain and BMI in both the groups which was insignificant (p > 0.05).
Conclusion: Both olanzapine and quetiapine showed increase in body weight and BMI in psychotic illness patients during the study period. But intergroup comparison revealed no significant difference between the groups.
Key words: Olanzapine, quetiapine, weight gain, body mass index
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