Birth weight, family history of diabetes and diabetes onset in schizophrenia.

Abstract:

INTRODUCTION: The prevalence of diabetes in schizophrenia is twice that in the general population, but there are few reliable predictors of which individuals will develop glucose dysregulation. OBJECTIVE: To test if abnormal birth weight (either too low or too high) and parental diabetes, both variables that can be ascertained in the clinic, can predict diabetes onset in patients with schizophrenia. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Electronic records of a cohort of 190 clozapine-treated patients (37% treated for more than 20 years) and Cox regression survival analysis (with any type of glucose dysregulation as the event) to account for differences in length of treatment before the event and age at clozapine treatment initiation. RESULTS: Age at clozapine initiation (Exp(B)=1.098; p