Overweight/obesity and associated factors among adult patients with severe mental illness attending the psychiatric outpatient clinic at Specialized Hospital in Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Overweight and obesity is a nutritional problem in both developed and developing countries. Obesity is closely related to mental health and psychological distress can commonly occur. Patients with impaired mental health are strongly vulnerable to the risks of having involuntary weight gain, weight loss, or deficiency of essential nutrients. The study aims to assess the prevalence of overweight/obesity and associated factors among adult patients with severe mental illness attending psychiatric outpatient clinics at Amanuel Mental Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was used to assess the prevalence of Overweight/obesity and associated factors among adult patients with severe mental illness attending the psychiatric outpatient clinic in Amanuel Mental Specialized Hospital from June - July, 2021. The data were collected from 456 adult patients with severe mental illness attending psychiatric outpatient clinics by using a face-to-face interview administered questionnaire. Both bi-variable and multivariable logistic regression were conducted using SPSS version 25 software. Variables in the bi-variable logistic regression analysis having a p-value of less than 0.2 were included in the multivariable logistic regression analysis. Results: The study revealed that the prevalence of overweight/obesity among adult psychiatric patients with severe mental illness was 29.8%. Married patients were 56% (AOR: 0.44 96% CI: 0.23, 0.85) times less likely to be overweight/obese than those who didn't get married. Participants who didn't consume Khat were 3.92 times more likely (AOR: 3.92 96% CI: (1.21, 12.6) to be overweight/obese than participants who consume Khat. Conclusion: Even though some significant factors were not included in this study, the finding shows that the magnitude of overweight/obesity is considerably high among psychiatric patients. With a remarkably high prevalence of overweight/obesity in psychiatric patients, targeted interventions like nutrition counseling regularly should be implemented and individualized weight management accordingly. Also, meal frequency and khat consumption associated significantly with the overweight/obesity status in this study call for attention in the clinical management plan to reduce the risk of further weight gain.