The relationship between schizophrenia patients' attitudes towards physical health and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome

Purpose: Previous studies have established that metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with an increased risk of mortality. Several studies have demonstrated that the assessment of patients’ attitudes or behaviors regarding their physical health problems is an important parameter in initiating positive health behaviors and providing patients with metabolic control. To determine whether schizophrenia patients’ attitudes towards physical health affect the prevalence of MetS, we conducted a questionnaire survey of schizophrenia patients. Methods: We obtained 7,655 and 15,461 questionnaire responses from 520 and 247 facilities for outpatients and inpatients, respectively. The final analysis included data from a total of 6,576 subjects (2,213 outpatients and 4,363 inpatients). We assessed the effects of patients’ attitudes as risk factors for having MetS using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: The prevalence of MetS was higher in outpatients compared with inpatients (34.7% and 13.2%, respectively). Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that positive attitudes towards disease prevention and health care were related to a lower prevalence of MetS for outpatients and inpatients. In addition, greater knowledge of, and interest in, physical risk were associated with a lower prevalence of MetS only in outpatients. Conclusions: We detected substantial gaps in knowledge and negative health attitudes among respondents, suggesting that educational programs should be incorporated into current management protocols for patients with a high risk of MetS.