| Abstract: | OBJECTIVES: Atypical antipsychotic-induced diabetes has raised concerns recently, while the extent of a typical antipsychotic-induced diabetes mellitus among Asians with schizophrenia is not well known. This study aims to compare the association of atypical antipsychotic treatments and diabetes mellitus with that of haloperidol treatment and diabetes mellitus among schizophrenic patients in Taiwan. METHODS: Data used in this study came from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance claims database for the period 2000–2004. This study identified antipsychotic treatment episodes of clozapine, olanzapine,risperidone, quetiapine, amisulpride, ziprasidone, and haloperidol. Inclusion criteria of treatment episodes were that the subjectswere aged 18 years or above, had had at least one admission due to schizophrenia during the two-year period prior to the initiation of the treatment episodes, and with no diabetes mellitus during a one-year period prior to the initiation of the treatment episodes. Diabetes mellitus was identified by claims with such diagnosis or with antidiabetic agents. A logistic regression model was applied to evaluate the likelihood of newly-on set cases of diabetes of different antipsychotic treatment episodes. Patient and clinical characteristics were included as covariates. RESULTS: Compared with users of haloperidol, those receiving clozapine, olanzapine, and risperidone had a higher probability of developing diabetes mellitus. Those taking quetiapine, amisulpride,and ziprasidone, however, had no significantly higher odds of developing diabetes mellitus. CONCLUSIONS: The preliminary findings of this study support reports of atypical antipsychotics-induced diabetes mellitus. Clozapine, olanzapine,and risperidone, compared with haloperidol, are associated with an increased risk of diabetes mellitus among schizophrenic patients in Taiwan. |
