10. Goff, DC, C Cather, AE Evins, et al. Medical morbidity and mortality in schizophrenia: guidelines for psychiatrists. J Clin Psychiatry, 2005. 66(2): p. 183-94; quiz 147, 273-4.
11. Davidson, S, F Judd, D Jolley, et al. Cardiovascular risk factors for people with mental illness. Aust N Z J Psychiatry, 2001. 35(2): p. 196-202.
12. Diabetes UK. Position Statement: Early identification of people with Type 2 diabetes. 2006.
Notes to Editors:
AEP
-- The Association of European Psychiatry is host to the annual European Congress of Psychiatry and was founded in 1983. It is the largest international association of psychiatrists in Europe with members in 58 countries. The mission of the AEP is to improve the quality of mental health care throughout Europe, by enhancing the standard of psychiatric education and training, promoting excellence in psychiatric research and encouraging progress in psychiatric clinical practice.
ABOUT EXTRAPYRAMIDAL SYMPTOMS:
-- Extrapyramidal symptoms, often abbreviated as EPS, is a neurological side effect of antipsychotic medication. EPS can occur within the first few days or weeks of treatment, or it can appear after months and years of antipsychotic medication use.
-- EPS is more common among patients taking typical antipsychotic medications, compared to the newer atypical drugs. More than 60% of the people who take typical antipsychotic medications experience some form of EPS.
-- EPS can cause a variety of symptoms, e.g. involuntary movements, tremors and rigidity, body restlessness, muscle contractions and changes in breathing and heart rate.
ABOUT THE PSYCHIATRIST PHYSICAL HEALTH SURVEY
The survey was commissioned by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Otsuka Pharmaceuticals. Psychiatrists responded to a 10-question survey. To date over 5,000 psychiatrists have opted to complete this survey and the figures included in this report are from the initial analysis of the first 4,220 respondents.
-- About the scales used in the survey:
-- Psychiatrists rated importance of physical health using a 7-point scale, whereby 1 = not important & 7 = extremely important.
-- Success of programme to control weight gain was rated on a scale whereby 0% = failure & 100% = success.
CONTACT: David Rosen, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Office phone: +1-609-252-5675, david.m.rosen@bms.com. Alison Ross, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Europe Ltd, Mobile: +44-(0)-7768-337-128, aross@otsuka-europe.com
