Objectives: In this study, we aimed to investigate the effectiveness and cardiometabolic safety of antipsychotic drugs in a naturalistically treated pediatric inpatient population.
Methods: Two hundred patients aged between 8 and 18 who were consecutively hospitalized in the child and adolescent psychiatry unit of the Dokuz Eylul University hospital were included in the study. The study was approved by the Dokuz Eylul University Ethics Committee.Treatment decisions were made independently from the research team based on clinical need. Body weight, height, prolactin, T4, fasting blood glucose, triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, liver function tests (ALT, AST), hemoglobin, leukocytes, and platelets were collected at time of admission and discharge. Data were also collected on duration of hospitalization, Children’s Global Assessment of Functioning Scale scores (CGAS), and antipsychotic and concomitant treatment type, duration and dosages. Analyses were performed using SPSS 15 software.
Results: Significant baseline-to-endpoint improvements were observed regarding CGAS scores in all groups (each p<0.0001). In addition, there were also significant increases in body weight unadjusted for growth and treatment duration with risperidone, olanzapine and quetiapine, but not for aripiprazole and for the group treated with non-antipsychotic medications. The only significant within-group differences included a decrease in total cholesterol values with aripiprazole (p=0.002) and in the non-antipsychotic group (p=0.001)
Conclusions: Different from others, non-significant weight gain and decrease cholesterol were found in aripiprazole and nonantipsychotic groups.