The impact of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions on physical health outcomes in people with mood disorders across the lifespan: An umbrella review of the evidence from randomised controlled trials

• Published in: Molecular psychiatry Vol. 28; no. 1; pp. 369 - 390
• Main Authors: Croatto, Giovanni, Vancampfort, Davy, Miola, Alessandro, Olivola, Miriam, Fiedorowicz, Jess G., Firth, Joseph, Alexinschi, Ovidiu, Gaina, Marcel A., Makkai, Vladimir, Soares, Fernanda Cunha, Cavaliere, Leandro, Vianello, Giorgia, Stubbs, Brendon, Fusar-Poli, Paolo, Carvalho, Andre F., Vieta, Eduard, Cortese, Samuele, Shin, Jae Il, Correll, Christoph U., Solmi, Marco
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.01.2023; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 692/699/476/1333; 692/699/476/1414; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Antidepressants; Antidepressive Agents - therapeutic use; Antipsychotic Agents - therapeutic use; Antipsychotics; Aripiprazole; Behavioral Sciences; Biological Psychology; Bipolar disorder; Bipolar Disorder - drug therapy; Blood pressure; Body weight gain; Cardiorespiratory fitness; Cholesterol; Citalopram; Emotional disorders; Fasting; Fluoxetine; Fluoxetine - therapeutic use; Glucose; Glycated Hemoglobin; Heart diseases; Humans; Life span; Longevity; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental depression; Mood; Mood disorders; Neurosciences; Norepinephrine; Olanzapine; Olanzapine - therapeutic use; Outcome Assessment, Health Care; Pharmacotherapy; Placebos; Psychiatry; Psychotropic drugs; Quality of life; Quetiapine; Quetiapine Fumarate - therapeutic use; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Reviews; Risperidone; Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors - therapeutic use; Serotonin uptake inhibitors; Sertraline; Systematic Review; Triglycerides
• ISSN: 1359-4184; 1476-5578
• DOI: 10.1038/s41380-022-01770-w

Objective People with mood disorders have increased risk of comorbid medical diseases versus the general population. It is paramount to identify interventions to improve physical health in this population. Methods Umbrella review of meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) on pharmacological/non-pharmacological interventions for physical health outcomes/intolerability-related discontinuation in mood disorders (any age). Results Ninety-seven meta-analyses were included. Among youths, against placebo, in depression, antidepressants/antipsychotics had higher discontinuation rates; in bipolar depression, olanzapine+fluoxetine worsened total cholesterol (TC)/triglycerides/weight gain (WG) (large ES). In adults with bipolar disorder, olanzapine worsened HbA1c/TC/WG (moderate/large ES); asenapine increased fasting glucose (small ES); quetiapine/cariprazine/risperidone induced WG (small/moderate ES). In bipolar depression, lurasidone was metabolically neutral. In depression, psychological interventions improved physical health-related quality of life (PHQoL) (small ES), fasting glucose/HbA1c (medium/large ES); SSRIs improved fasting glucose/HbA1c, readmission for coronary disease, pain (small ES); quetiapine/aripiprazole/olanzapine induced WG (small to large ES). Exercise improved cardiorespiratory fitness (moderate ES). In the elderly, fluoxetine yielded more detrimental cardiovascular effects than sertraline/escitalopram (large ES); antidepressants were neutral on exercise tolerance and PHQoL. In mixed age groups, in bipolar disorder aripiprazole was metabolically neutral; in depression, SSRIs lowered blood pressure versus placebo and serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (small ES); brexpiprazole augmentation caused WG and was less tolerated (small ES); exercise improved PHQoL (moderate ES). Conclusions Some interventions (psychological therapies, exercise and SSRIs) improve certain physical health outcomes in mood disorders, few are neutral, but various pharmacological interventions are associated with negative effects. Evidence from this umbrella review has limitations, should consider evidence from other disorders and should be integrated with recent evidence from individual RCTs, and observational evidence. Effective treatments with either beneficial or physically neutral profiles should be prioritized.