Evidence mapPaperPMID 33547471Full record

SynthesisSchizophrenia bulletin2021

Does Switching Antipsychotics Ameliorate Weight Gain in Patients With Severe Mental Illness? A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Dan Siskind, Erin Gallagher, Karl Winckel, Samantha Hollingworth, Steve Kisely, Joseph Firth, Christoph U Correll, Wade Marteene

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Schizophrenia bulletin, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
28citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

28 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2026
    Guideline
  2. Pooled it
  3. Trial
  4. Article
  5. Real-world comprehensive care of people living with schizophrenia: recommendations across different settings and clinical stages.World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) · 2026
    Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Delphi Consensus Among French Obesity Experts on Clinical Recommendations for Drug Prescription in Patients With Severe Obesity.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2025
    Review
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Trajectories of daily antipsychotic use and weight gain in people hospitalized for the first episode of psychosis.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2024
    Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Review
  19. Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Dan SiskindMetro South Addiction and Mental Health Service, Brisbane, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-2072-9216
Erin GallagherMetro South Addiction and Mental Health Service, Brisbane, Australia.
Karl WinckelSchool of Pharmacy, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
Samantha HollingworthSchool of Pharmacy, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
Steve KiselyMetro South Addiction and Mental Health Service, Brisbane, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-4021-2924
Joseph FirthDivision of Psychology and Mental Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
Christoph U CorrellDepartment of Psychiatry and Molecular Medicine, The Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Hempstead, NY.
Wade MarteeneDepartment of Pharmacy, Redlands Hospital, Cleveland, QLD, Australia.

Funding

Medical Research Council MR/T021780/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveObesity and adverse metabolic outcomes in patients with severe mental illness are clinically significant but potentially preventable. Importantly, the evidence for switching to antipsychotics to reduce cardiometabolic burden is unclear.

methodPubMED, Embase, PsycINFO, and Cochrane were searched from inception to March 8, 2020. Articles reporting weight and metabolic changes after antipsychotic switching vs staying on the previous antipsychotic were meta-analyzed both across and within group.

resultsOf 61 identified studies, 59 were meta-analyzed (40% rated high quality). In the switch-vs-stay pairwise meta-analyses, only aripiprazole significantly reduced weight (-5.52 kg, 95% CI -10.63, -0.42, P = .03), while olanzapine significantly increased weight (2.46 kg, 95% CI 0.34, 4.57, P = .02). Switching to aripiprazole also significantly improved fasting glucose (-3.99 mg/dl, 95% CI -7.34, -0.64, P = .02) and triglycerides (-31.03 mg/dl, 95% CI -48.73, -13.34, P = .0001). Dropout and psychosis ratings did not differ between switch and stay groups for aripiprazole and olanzapine. In before-to-after switch meta-analyses, aripiprazole (-1.96 kg, 95% CI -3.07, -0.85, P < .001) and ziprasidone (-2.22 kg, 95% CI -3.84, -0.60, P = .007) were associated with weight loss, whereas olanzapine (2.71 kg, 95% CI 1.87, 3.55, P < .001), and clozapine (2.80 kg, 95% CI 0.26, 5.34, P = .03) were associated with weight gain. No significant weight or other cardiometabolic changes were observed when switching to amisulpride, paliperidone/risperidone, quetiapine, or lurasidone.

conclusionsSwitching antipsychotics to agents with lower weight gain potential, notably to aripiprazole and ziprasidone, can improve weight profile and other cardiometabolic outcomes. When choosing switch agents, both the weight gain potential of the pre- and post-switch antipsychotic must be considered. Antipsychotic switching in psychiatrically stable patients must be weighed against the risk of psychiatric worsening.

Indexed as

Antipsychotic AgentsHumansMental DisordersPatient AcuityWeight GainAntipsychotic Agentsantipsychoticsbipolar disorderobesityschizophreniaswitching

Identifiers

PMID33547471
PMCPMC8266669

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.