OBJECTIVE:

The aim was to evaluate a quality improvement programme designed to increase screening for the metabolic syndrome in community psychiatric patients prescribed antipsychotics.

METHOD:

Baseline audit against evidence-based standards, followed by provision of benchmarked data and a range of change interventions, with re-audit 1 year later.

RESULTS:

At baseline, 48 assertive outreach teams across the UK submitted data on screening over the previous year for 1966 patients. At re-audit, 35 of the teams submitted data for 1516 patients. Screening for all four aspects of the metabolic syndrome (measuring blood pressure, obesity, blood glucose and plasma lipids) had increased significantly by re-audit. Clinical variables increasing the likelihood of full screening were clozapine treatment and a known diagnosis of diabetes or dyslipidaemia.

CONCLUSION:

The programme's success may be partly attributed to the use of a widely-accepted audit standard, and bespoke change interventions that directly addressed barriers to screening identified by the participating clinical teams.