A simple, easy-to-use, free program appears to stop antipsychotic-related weight gain and delivers durable weight loss in patients with schizophrenia, new research shows.
A randomized controlled trial showed that the Simplified Intervention to Modify Physical activity, Lifestyle, and Eating behavior (SIMPLE) program resulted in clinically significant weight loss of 5% or more with no postintervention weight gain out to 6 months compared with usual care.
“One out of 4 people lost over 5%, or roughly 10 lbs of weight, and they kept it off for 6 months without any intervention, which was amazing,” principal investigator Cenk Tek, MD, director of the psychosis program at the Connecticut Mental Health Center, Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, told Medscape Medical News.
The study was presented here at the American Psychiatric Association’s 2014 Annual Meeting.