About one in three adults receiving psychiatric care across the Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye has metabolic syndrome, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published on Thursday in Scientific Reports. Researchers pooled results from 29 studies involving 16,133 participants and estimated prevalence at 32.0%, highlighting a substantial burden of cardiovascular and diabetes risk among people with severe mental illness and other psychiatric diagnoses.
Metabolic syndrome describes a cluster of conditions that commonly includes abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, abnormal blood fats and elevated blood sugar. Together, these factors increase the likelihood of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke. The analysis covered studies published from 2008 through 2024, while its database search ran through August 2025; participants had an average age of 36.96 years.
Seventeen of the included studies focused on schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and five examined bipolar disorder, with the remainder covering mixed or other psychiatric diagnoses. Among samples limited to severe mental illness, the pooled prevalence was 30.7%, close to the overall estimate. The authors also found that a higher proportion of women in a study was significantly associated with greater metabolic-syndrome prevalence.
Estimates changed depending on the definition researchers used. Studies applying International Diabetes Federation criteria produced a pooled rate of 38.9%, compared with 28.9% under Adult Treatment Panel III criteria. That gap shows why comparisons across countries and services require caution and why standardized screening practices could improve the identification of patients at risk.
The authors said the findings support integrating physical and mental healthcare and routinely monitoring metabolic indicators in psychiatric services. They cautioned indirectly through the study design that the pooled observational evidence cannot establish that a psychiatric condition or its treatment caused metabolic syndrome, and the available studies varied substantially. The paper is an early, unedited version accepted on July 21, and Springer Nature notes that further editorial changes may follow.
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