The effect of a calorie-restricted diet on weight gain in short-term psychiatric inpatients receiving atypical antipsychotic medications.

This study attempted to evaluate the effect of a calorie-restricted diet on weight change in short-term acute care psychiatric patients receiving atypical antipsychotic medication. A descriptive correlational design utilizing chart review and a convenience sample of 100 participants was used. Fifty charts of patients hospitalized prior to the implementation of the calorie-restricted diet for those receiving atypical antipsychotic agents were compared to 50 charts of patients who received the diet. Weight changes in the two groups were compared relative to age, gender, length of time taking the medication, and the type of medication. The Mann-Whitney U test, Spearman's rank-correlation coefficient, and the two-way analysis of variance were used to conduct the analyses. The calorie-restricted diet was not significantly associated with a reduction in weight gain in participants who received any of the atypical antipsychotic agents except for olanzapine; therefore, findings indicate that the calorie-restricted diet may only be effective for patients receiving olanzapine. Copyright 2014, SLACK Incorporated.