Background: Case series suggest that some antipsychotics may induce or exacerbate type 2 diabetes. This study measured the association of antipsychotic treatments with diabetes at a population level.
Method: Claims data for psychosis patients (ICD-CM-9 290.xx-299.xx) within health plans encompassing 2.5 million individuals were analyzed. Patients reporting preexisting type 2 diabetes up to 8 months prior to observation were excluded. The frequency of newly reported type 2 diabetes in untreated patients and among patients treated with antipsychotics from 5 categories (risperidone, olanzapine, clozapine, and high-potency and low-potency conventionals) was compared. Logistic regression models compared the odds of diabetes based on exposure to each of the antipsychotic categories.
Results: Based on 12 months of exposure, the odds of type 2 diabetes for risperidone-treated patients (odds ratio = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.372 to 2.070) was not significantly different from that for untreated patients, whereas patients receiving other antipsychotics had a significantly greater risk of diabetes than untreated patients (p < .05): olanzapine, 3.10 (95% CI = 1.620 to 5.934); clozapine, 7.44 (95% CI = 0.603 to 34.751); high-potency conventionals, 2.13 (95% CI = 1.097 to 4.134); and low-potency conventionals, 3.46 (95% CI = 1.522 to 7.785). Older age and greater use of non-antipsychotic psychotropic medications also contributed to risk of type 2 diabetes. Olanzapine also showed significantly higher (p < .01) odds of diabetes associated with increasing dose.
Conclusion: Consistent with previously published literature, these data suggest that olanzapine, clozapine, and some conventional antipsychotics appear to increase the risk of acquiring or exacerbating type 2 diabetes and that the effect may vary by drug. In contrast to these agents, risperidone was not associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
Free Access: Please Log In
This content is completely free—but you need to be logged in to read the full article. If you already have an account, please log in below. Otherwise, register for free to unlock instant access.
Please sign in or purchase this PDF for $40.00.