Nursing programme for metabolic control and quality of life in an outpatient population on antipsychotic treatment

Abstract

Patients with severe mental disorder, schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders are the main users of the mental health nursing clinic and have poorer physical health than the general population. The objectives of this project are to assess quality of life, physical health and the presence of metabolic syndrome in outpatients on antipsychotic treatment and to identify the favourable changes achieved after working for one year on two nursing diagnoses of the NANDA taxonomy: Imbalanced nutrition: more than body requirements and Sedentary lifestyle. A descriptive cross-sectional study is proposed at baseline, with anthropometric measurements (weight, body mass index, abdominal perimeter), blood pressure measurement and blood tests, with quality of life measured using the Global Assessment of Functioning scale and the Spanish version of the EuroQol-5D questionnaire, and a comparative longitudinal study of the initial results with those obtained at one year of follow-up after applying the nursing programme. The sample is made up of patients who come for injectable antipsychotic treatment and sign the informed consent; the scales are applied individually and always by the same qualified nursing professional.