Treatment Discontinuation Impact on Long-Term (10-Year) Weight Gain and Lipid Metabolism in First-Episode Psychosis: Results From the PAFIP-10 Cohort

[Background] Patients with a first episode of psychosis (FEP) are at higher risk of gaining weight and presenting metabolic disturbances, partly related to antipsychotic exposure. Previous studies suggest that treatment discontinuation might have a positive impact on weight in schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of treatment discontinuation on weight and metabolic changes in a FEP cohort.[Methods] A total of 209 FEP patients and 57 healthy controls were evaluated at study entry and prospectively at 10-year follow-up. Anthropometric measures and, clinical, metabolic, and sociodemographic data were collected. [Results] Patients discontinuing antipsychotic treatment presented a significantly lower increase in weight and better metabolic parameter results than those still on antipsychotic treatment at 10-year follow-up. [Conclusions] Treatment discontinuation had a positive effect on the weight and metabolic changes observed in FEP patients; however, this effect was not sufficient to reaching a complete reversal to normal levels.This work was supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (grant nos. PI020499, PI050427, and PI060507) and the Valdecilla Insitute of Biomedical Research (grant no. NVAL17/24)