Changing the obesogenic environment of severe mentally ill residential patients: ELIPS, a cluster randomised study design

Effectiveness of a Lifestyle Intervention for People With a Severe Mental Illness in Dutch Outpatient Mental Health Care: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance

People with a severe mental illness (SMI) have a life expectancy reduced by 10 to 20 years compared with the general population, primarily attributable to cardiometabolic disorders. Lifestyle interventions for people with SMI can improve health and reduce cardiometabolic risk.

Objective

To evaluate the effectiveness of a group-based lifestyle intervention among people with SMI in outpatient treatment settings compared with treatment as usual (TAU).

Design, Setting, and Participants

The Severe Mental Illness Lifestyle Evaluation (SMILE) study is a pragmatic cluster randomized clinical trial performed in 8 mental health care centers with 21 flexible assertive community treatment teams in the Netherlands. Inclusion criteria were SMI, age of 18 years or older, and body mass index (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) of 27 or greater. Data were collected from January 2018 to February 2020, and data were analyzed from September 2020 to February 2023.

Interventions

Weekly 2-hour group sessions for 6 months followed by monthly 2-hour group sessions for another 6 months, delivered by trained mental health care workers. The intervention targeted overall lifestyle changes, emphasizing establishing a healthy diet and promoting physical activity. TAU (control) did not include structured interventions or advice on lifestyle.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Crude and adjusted linear mixed models and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed. The main outcome was body weight change. Secondary outcomes included changes in body mass index, blood pressure, lipid profiles, fasting glucose level, quality of life, self-management ability, and lifestyle behaviors (physical activity and health, mental health, nutrition, and sleep).

Results

The study population included 11 lifestyle intervention teams (126 participants) and 10 TAU teams (98 participants). Of 224 included patients, 137 (61.2%) were female, and the mean (SD) age was 47.6 (11.1) years. From baseline to 12 months, participants in the lifestyle intervention group lost 3.3 kg (95% CI, -6.2 to -0.4) more than those in the control group. In the lifestyle intervention group, people with high attendance rates lost more weight than participants with medium and low rates (mean [SD] weight loss: high, -4.9 [8.1] kg; medium, -0.2 [7.8] kg; low, 0.8 [8.3] kg). Only small or no changes were found for secondary outcomes.

Conclusions and Relevance

In this trial, the lifestyle intervention significantly reduced weight from baseline to 12 months in overweight and obese adults with SMI. Tailoring lifestyle interventions and increasing attendance rates might be beneficial for people with SMI.

Trial Registration

Netherlands Trial Register Identifier: NTR6837.

Effects of a lifestyle intervention on psychosocial well-being of severe mentally ill residential patients: ELIPS, a cluster randomized controlled pragmatic trial

Large studies investigating the psychosocial effects of lifestyle interventions in patients with a severe mental illness (SMI) are scarce, especially in residential patients. This large, randomized controlled, multicentre pragmatic trial assessed the psychosocial effects of a combined diet-and-exercise lifestyle intervention targeting the obesogenic environment of SMI residential patients. Twenty-nine sheltered and clinical care teams were randomized into intervention (n=15) or control (n=14) arm. Team tailored diet-and-exercise lifestyle plans were set up to change the obesogenic environment into a healthier setting, and team members were trained in supporting patients to make healthier choices. The control group received care-as-usual. The Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS), Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS) and the Manchester Short Assessment of Quality of Life (MANSA) were assessed at baseline and after three and twelve months. Data were available for 384 intervention and 386 control patients (48.6±12.5years old, 62.7% males, 73.7% psychotic disorder). Linear mixed model analysis showed no psychosocial improvements in the intervention group compared to care-as-usual; the intervention group showed a slightly reduced quality of life (overall) and a small increase in depressive symptoms (clinical care facilities) and psychotic symptoms (sheltered facilities). This may be due to difficulties with implementation, the intervention not being specifically designed for improvements in mental well-being, or the small change approach, which may take longer to reach an effect. Further research might elucidate what type of lifestyle intervention under what circumstances positively affects psychosocial outcomes in this population.

Less Medication Use in Inpatients With Severe Mental Illness Receiving a Multidisciplinary Lifestyle Enhancing Treatment. The MULTI Study III

Besides having an unhealthy lifestyle contributing to premature mortality, inpatients with severe mental illness (SMI) use high dosages of medication. Previous research has shown improved health after lifestyle improvements in SMI. In addition, we aimed to retrospectively study whether a multidisciplinary lifestyle enhancing treatment (MULTI) was associated with changes in medication use after 18 months, as compared with patients that continued treatment as usual (TAU) and explored mediation by a change in physical activity. We conducted an observational study within a cohort of inpatients with SMI, who received MULTI (N = 65) or continued TAU (N = 49). Data on their somatic and psychotropic medications were collected, converted into defined daily dose (DDD), and analyzed using linear multilevel regression, correcting for baseline value and differences between groups in age, diagnosis, and illness severity. Compared with TAU, the DDD for psychotropic medication significantly decreased with MULTI (B = -0.55, P = 0.02). Changes in total activity did not mediate this association, suggesting that multiple components of MULTI contributed. Corrected between-group analyses for subgroups of medication were not possible due to lack of power and skewed distributions. Within-group data showed a decreased proportion of users as well as median DDD in both groups for almost all medications. In addition to previously reported health improvements after 18 months of MULTI, we observed a significant decrease in dose of psychotropic medication in MULTI compared to TAU. This first study evaluating a wide range of medications indicates a possible effect of lifestyle improvements on medication use in inpatients with SMI. Findings need to be confirmed in future controlled studies, however.

Changing the obesogenic environment to improve cardiometabolic health in residential patients with a severe mental illness: cluster randomised controlled trial

BackgroundFor patients with severe mental illness (SMI) in residential facilities, adopting a healthy lifestyle is hampered by the obesity promoting (obesogenic) environment.AimsTo determine the effectiveness of a 12-month lifestyle intervention addressing the obesogenic environment with respect to diet and physical activity to improve waist circumference and cardiometabolic risk factors v. care as usual (Dutch Trial Registry: NTR2720).MethodIn a multisite cluster randomised controlled pragmatic trial, 29 care teams were randomised into 15 intervention (365 patients) and 14 control teams (371 patients). Intervention staff were trained to improve the obesogenic environment.ResultsWaist circumference decreased 1.51 cm (95% CI -2.99 to -0.04) in the intervention v. control group after 3 months and metabolic syndrome z-score decreased 0.22 s.d. (95% CI -0.38 to -0.06). After 12 months, the decrease in waist circumference was no longer statistically significantly different (-1.28 cm, 95% CI -2.79 to 0.23, P=0.097).ConclusionsTargeting the obesogenic environment of residential patients with SMI has the potential to facilitate reduction of abdominal adiposity and cardiometabolic risk, but maintaining initial reductions over the longer term remains challenging.