none3Objective To review studies conducted to evaluate the risk of type 2 diabetes in patients treated with different antipsychotic
drugs (AP).
Methods a MEDLINE search (January 1985–February 2003) was conducted to establish the potential relationship
between the exposure to AP (conventional and second generation) and the development of type 2 diabetes. Studies were
classified according to their experimental design as prospective and retrospective (incidence and prevalence based).
Results Twenty-one studies were selected: nine prospective and eleven retrospective.
Data Synthesis and Conclusions Patients with schizophrenia treated with different AP have an increased risk of
developing type 2 diabetes compared with the general population. The data so far available, however, do not establish
whether the increasing risk of developing diabetes is a function of the schizophrenia itself or is induced by the antipsychotic
treatment. A number of methodological flaws in the study design and data collection do not allow conclusions to be drawn on
the risk between patients treated with conventional drugs versus those treated with new ones. Copyright#2004 JohnWiley
& Sons, Ltd.
key words—clozapine; olanzapine; risperidone; quetiapine; type 2 diabetes; antipsychotic drugsBELLANTUONO C.; TENTONI L.; DONDA P.Bellantuono, Cesario; Tentoni, L.; Donda, P
