Assessment of cardiovascular risk for serious mental disorders

Objective: Incidence and prevalence of cardiovascular diseases in patients with severe mental disorders are higher than the general population. It was aimed to calculate the 10 year cardiovascular disease risk by using Framingham risk scoring (FRS) and investigate the relationship between this score and C-reactive protein in psychiatric inpatients of a university hospital. Method: Inpatients with the diagnosis of major depression, bipolar disorders and psychotic disorders in six months time were included in the study.Participants were assessed based on their gender, age, body mass index, waist circumference, FRS, and CRP levels. Results: The calculated 10 year cardiovascular disease development risk did not differ between the diagnosis (p=0,39), but found to be significantly higher in males than females (p=0,002). FRS levels showed positive correlations with male gender (p=0,002), age (p=0,000), waist circumference (p=0,001), and body mass index (p=0,001). Discussion: We have to evaluate coexisting somatic diseases of psychiatric patients as well as behavioral and psychological problems. Using FRS, evaluating body mass index and waist circumference could help us predict the risky population and we could consider our drug treatment choices accordingly.