This study sought to evaluate the presence of the metabolic syndrome in a group of 171 patients with bipolar disorder who were consecutively recruited in our hospital in a year.

Data were collected from participants in 2009-2010. The study focused on the presence of the metabolic syndrome, as defined by the National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (NCEP ATP III).

Thirty percent of the sample met the NCEP ATP III criterion for the metabolic syndrome, 49% met the criterion for abdominal obesity, 41% met the criterion for hypertriglyceridemia, 48% met the criterion for hypertriglyceridemia or were on a cholesterol-lowering medication, 23% met the criterion for low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, 39% met the criterion for hypertension and 8% met the criterion for high fasting glucose or antidiabetic medication use. Patients with the metabolic syndrome and patients endorsing the obesity criterion were more likely (p = 0.05 and p = 0.004, respectively).

The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in patients with bipolar disorder is alarmingly high. We need interventions specifically designed for preventing and treating the metabolic syndrome and its components in patients with bipolar disorder.