Diurnal Weight Gain in Chronic Psychosis

• Published in: Schizophrenia bulletin Vol. 15; no. 3; pp. 501 - 506
• Main Authors: Vieweg, W. Victor R., Godleski, Linda S., Graham, Patricia, Kellogg, Elizabeth J., Goldman, Fran, Barber, Jack, Bayliss, E. Virginia, Glick, Joseph L., Hundley, Paul L., Yank, Glenn R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford National Institute of Mental Health 1989; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Antipsychotic Agents - pharmacology; Biological and medical sciences; Body Weight; Chronic Disease; Chronic Psychosis; Circadian Rhythm; Etiology; Female; Fluid Intake; Human; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Psychiatric Patients; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychoses; Psychotic Disorders - complications; Psychotic Disorders - physiopathology; Schizophrenia; Water-Electrolyte Imbalance - complications; Weight Gain; Weight Gain - drug effects; Human; Psychosis; Chronic; Neuroleptic; Psychotropic; Body weight; Schizophrenia; Antipsychotic; Blood pressure; Sleep wake cycle; Personality disorder
• ISSN: 0586-7614; 1745-1701
• DOI: 10.1093/schbul/15.3.501

We found
diurnal weight gain to be abnormal among 93 chronically psychotic patients, most
of whom had schizophrenia. They were weighed at 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekly for 3
weeks. We normalized the diurnal weight gain (NDWG) as a percentage by
subtracting the 7 a.m. weight from the 4 p.m. weight, multiplying the difference
by 100, and dividing the result by the 7 a.m. weight. NDWG was 1.7 ±
1.0 percent for the study sample, 0.6 ± 0.4 percent for 16 acutely
psychotic controls, and 0.5 ± 0.4 percent for 29 normals. More than 60
percent of the study sample had abnormal NDWG values. NDWG related to
antipsychotic drug dose (r = 0.290, p = 0.005) with variability in drug dose
accounting for 8 percent of the variability in NDWG. This report provides yet
another piece of evidence that disordered water balance is common in chronic
psychiatric patients. The etiology is unknown, but it may relate to subtle brain
abnormalities in the regulation of fluid intake and excretion.