Up to 80 percent of patients taking antipsychotic drugs to treat schizophrenia and other mental conditions gain a significant amount of weight.

To assess if drug-related weight gain can be attenuated, investigators used early behavioral intervention (EBI), designed to teach patients ways to maximize control over their weight, using nutrition, exercise and behavioral strategies.

Dr. Mario Alvarez-Jimenez of the University Hospital Marques de Valdecilla in Santander, Spain, and others randomized 61 antipsychotic-naïve patients diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder to one of three treatments: risperidone (Risperdal), haloperidol (Haldol), or olanzapine (Zyprexa). Patients were then randomized to EBI or routine care.

EBI was initiated at the same time as drug therapy, with the intention of preventing or minimizing weight gain.

By the end of the study period, patients randomized to EBI gained a mean of 4.1 kg compared with a mean gain of 6.9 kg in the routine care patients, which was a significant difference.

BMI -- the ratio of height to weight -- increased by 1.40 in the EBI group compared with 2.39 in patients who received routine, again a significant difference favoring EBI. A weight gain of more than 7 percent over baseline occurred in 39.3 percent of EBI patients compared with 78.8 percent in those receiving routine care.

In the study, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, Alvarez-Jimenez writes that "young patients displayed a good attitude toward this preventive approach," with a 100 percent follow-up rate and high adherence to ECI.

SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Psychiatry September 2006.