Estimation of Cardiovascular Risk by Framingham Score in a Cross-sectional Sample of Schizophrenia Inpatients

The lifespan of schizophrenia (SCZ) patients is considered 25 years shorter compared to the general population, primarily due to cardiovascular (CV) disease. This study aims to assess the CV profile of the SCZ inpatients from Psychiatry Clinic I and II of Cluj-Napoca between 2018-2019. Methods: The following indicators were documented from interview and laboratory data: arterial hypertension (AHT), smoking, dyslipidemia, obesity, metabolic syndrome (MS), medication adherence (MA), Framingham score (FS), and CV diagnosis (CVd). The sample was separated into two groups based on FS and CV diagnosis: high-risk/CVd and medium/low-risk. Results: 50 SCZ patients were included in the study. 58% had AHT and 10% were prediagnosed, 90% had lipids perturbations of which 26.7% were prediagnosed, 66 % met the criteria for MS from which one prediagnosis, 12% had a CVd and the average FS was 12.7% corresponding to intermediate risk category. MA subjects had a lower risk to be in the high risk/CVd group (OR=1/0.22, p=0.02) and no association was found for the gender-CV risk categories (p=0.08). Conclusion: 1. The known CV risk factors are underdiagnosed in SCZ patients 2. SCZ might attenuate the gender CV risk stratification; and 3. MA might decrease the CV risk in SCZ.