RESOLVE
Research type
Research Study
Full title
REalist Synthesis Of non-pharmacologicaL interVEntions for antipsychotic-induced weight gain (RESOLVE) in people living with Severe Mental Illness (SMI)
IRAS ID
304370
Contact name
Ian Maidment
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Aston University
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
CRD42021268697, PROSPERO Registration; https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-022-01912-9, Protocol Published - Systematic Reviews
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 1 days
Research summary
People with severe mental illnesses (like schizophrenia) die up to 20 years earlier than everyone else mainly due to preventable physical illnesses that can be caused by the side-effects of antipsychotic medication. Antipsychotic medications are
one of the main treatments for illnesses like schizophrenia, however, a known side-effect of these drugs is significant weight gain in users. There are many different ways to manage and limit the weight gain caused by antipsychotics, including exercise and dietary advice. However, we don’t have a good understanding of what is likely to work for different people. This project aims to understand the role of non-pharmacological interventions in reducing weight gain caused by antipsychotic medication by reviewing the literature and interviewing service users, family carers and practitioners.We will use a method called "realist review". To help us to learn lessons from what has already been written, we will search widely for documents that contain information on possible ways to support people on antipsychotics to manage their weight. From the information in the documents, we will work out ‘what works for whom, when, how and why?’ This will enable us to understand why different ways of managing the weight gain are more or less likely to work.
Interviews will build on the literature. We will interview up to 35 people with severe mental illness on antipsychotics, and their family carers, and up to 25 health and social care clinicians. The interviews will focus on what has helped manage the weight gain; follow-on interviews will consider if the guidance is practical and likely to help.
We will analyse the data from the literature and interviews to build an in depth understanding of what is likely to ‘work’ to help people with severe mental illnesses to manage the weight gain and then produce guidance for service users and clinicians.
REC name
West Midlands - Coventry & Warwickshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/WM/0137
Date of REC Opinion
1 Jul 2022
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion