[Non-Pharmacological Interventions for the Prevention of Weight Gain in Schizophrenic Patients Treated with Antipsychotic Medication].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of non-pharmacological interventions to prevent anti-psychotic medication induced weight gain in patients with a first episode of schizophrenia.

METHODS: We searched electronic databases Medline, Embase and PsychINFO and reference lists of articles. Controlled trials evaluating the beneficial effects of non-pharmacological interventions to prevent weight gain were eligible for inclusion. Two authors independently assessed the risk of bias of the studies and extracted data.

RESULTS: 9 studies met the inclusion criteria. Evaluation of studies was carried out separately according to the different interventions. Six studies examined the effect of behavioral interventions. Two meta-analysis were conducted and found small effects on weight management in favor of the behavioral intervention. Three studies reported the effect of nutritional counselling yielding contradictory results .

CONCLUSIONS: There is currently no clear evidence which intervention is the best to prevent antipsychotic-induced weight gain in patients with first episode of schizophrenia. Further trials of high methodological quality are necessary.