Facilitating Metabolic Screening and Monitoring in Adults Prescribed Antipsychotics

Antipsychotic medications were widely used to treat patients with mental health conditions for over five decades. However, the risk of antipsychotic-induced metabolic syndrome remains a significant concern for those taking these medications. This syndrome is characterized by an increase in waist circumference, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol and lipid levels, and dysregulated blood glucose levels. The goal of this quality improvement project was to educate participants with evidence-based guidelines, to implement a pilot protocol for baseline screening and monitoring of metabolic syndrome in adults prescribed antipsychotics, and to improve care coordination between mental health and primary care services. This was a quasi-experimental study that involved a pretest, education intervention, and a posttest. The study sample of 14 participants were recruited through convenience sampling. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results of this project indicated that the utilization of an educational seminar that focused on the introduction of a pilot metabolic syndrome baseline screening and monitoring protocol improved participants’ metabolic screening and monitoring knowledge, metabolic screening and monitoring attitudes, and metabolic screening and monitoring behaviors. Significant improvement in the treatment behavior, knowledge, and attitudes of the participants towards metabolic evaluation and monitoring may facilitate a reduction in the metabolic syndrome and improved health outcomes among adults under treatment with antipsychotic medications.