Preventing weight gain and increased waist circumference during the first two years after antipsychotic initiation in youth with first-episode psychosis

BackgroundWe recently demonstrated that weight gain could be prevented in young people experiencing a first-episode of psychosis commencing treatment with antipsychotics. A 12-week, intensive lifestyle and life skills intervention – the Keeping the Body in Mind program, – was delivered by dedicated nursing, dietetic and exercise physiology clinicians, for new referrals with < one month of antipsychotic exposure. (Curtis et al., Early intervention in psychiatry, in press). At the conclusion of the intervention the 16 young people participating in the program experienced a mean weight gain of 1.8 kilograms, and a mean increase in waist circumference of 0.1 centimeters. The participants were followed up for two years after initial referral.MethodsDuring the two-year follow-up, participants had continuing access to an in house gym and weekly cooking groups, but without the same intensity of follow-up. Two year follow-up data were obtained from 11 participants form the original cohort.ResultsMean weight gain at two-year follow-up was 0.90 (SD 8.7) kilograms, and this difference was not statistically significant [t (10) = 0.3, NS]. Waist circumference decreased by 0.7 (SD 7.7) centimeters, which was not t statistically significant [t (10) = 0.3, NS]. Nine of the participants (82%) did not experience clinically significant weight gain two years after initiation of antipsychotic medication.ConclusionThis two-year follow-up data demonstrated that it is feasible to prevent weight gain in youth with first-episode psychosis over the first two years of treatment.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.