Comparing Tolerability of Olanzapine in Schizophrenia and Affective DisordersA Meta-Analysis

Background: Olanzapine is prescribed for a number of psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar mania, and unipolar and bipolar depression. Olanzapine treatment is associated with tolerability issues such as metabolic adverse effects (e.g. weight gain, increase in blood glucose, triglycerides and total cholesterol levels), extrapyramidal symptoms [EPS] (e.g. parkinsonism, akathisia, tardive dyskinesia) and sedative adverse effects. Metabolic issues lead to some long-term consequences, which include cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus, and these complications cause high rates of mortality and morbidity among patients with severe mental illnesses. The expanded indications of olanzapine in psychiatry suggest a need to investigate whether there is a difference in the incidence and severity of adverse effects related to category diagnosis. Are the adverse effects expressed differently according to phenotype? Unfortunately, there are no reported studies that investigated these differences in adverse effects associated with olanzapine treatment in psychiatric patients with different phenotypes.