SynthesisSchizophrenia bulletin2026
Does Sex Affect Antipsychotic-Induced Weight Gain in Patients Being Treated for Psychotic Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Schizophrenia bulletin, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Does Sex Affect Antipsychotic-Induced Weight Gain in Patients Being Treated for Psychotic Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2026Pooled it
- Clinical Practice Guideline on the Choice of First Antipsychotic Medicine for Females Experiencing a First-Episode of Psychosis.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2026Guideline
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
background and hypothesisAntipsychotic-induced weight gain (AIWG) causes distress for patients, and contributes to cardiovascular morbidity and poor medication adherence. Narrative reviews suggest females may experience higher rates of AIWG due to pharmacokinetic and hormonal variations. We systematically evaluated whether patients' sex affects AIWG in patients with psychotic disorders. STUDY
designThis systematic review and meta-analysis (PROSPERO: CRD42023495785) followed PRISMA guidelines. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, and PsycINFO from inception to December 17, 2025, for observational studies and trials reporting sex-disaggregated AIWG data. Random-effects meta-analyses were conducted for change in weight (kg) and BMI (kg/m2), with subgroup analyses by drug and follow-up duration. STUDY
resultsOf 8520 records screened, 27 studies (n = 5349) met inclusion criteria, with 15 contributing to meta-analyses. We found no statistically significant sex difference in weight change (SMD = 0.06, 95% CI, -0.14 to 0.27, I2 = 80%). However, females showed a small but significantly greater increase in BMI (SMD = 0.15, 95% CI, 0.02-0.28, I2 = 64%). Subgroup analyses revealed this BMI difference was more pronounced in studies with follow-up longer than 3 months (SMD = 0.30) and in observational studies (SMD = 0.24), but disappeared in RCTs and good-quality studies.
conclusionsFemales may experience a marginally greater increase in BMI due to antipsychotics relative to males, particularly over longer treatment durations. However, the profound scarcity of sex-disaggregated data-with only 3 RCTs identified-limits clinical recommendations. Future research must prioritize sex-disaggregated reporting. There is a need for well-designed, prospective studies that explicitly investigate sex differences in AIWG.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.