Obesity Among Hispanics Under Second-Generation Antipsychotic Medications - Research Proposal Example

There are two types of antipsychotic drugs (APDs) encountered in advanced nursing practice. These are the first and second-generation antipsychotic drugs. Of greater interest to this paper are the Second Generation Antipsychotics (SGAs), which have been found to cause weight gain and obesity in mental patients under SGAs. Second Generation Antipsychotic (SGAs) medications are a class of medications for psychiatric conditions approved by various agencies for use against psychiatric conditions such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, acute mania, and bipolar mania among other psychological illnesses. A rather interesting finding has presented itself in recent times with researchers discovering certain differences and disparities across ethnic and racial lines with regards to the prevalence of SGA-related obesity. This paper thus seeks to establish this assertion by narrowing down on whether the prevalence of SGA-induced obesity among Hispanics is higher than it is among Asians. Based on a firm background of past and current studies on the same subject, the following section paper explains why SGA-related obesity is rather an important concern for advanced nursing practice in the contemporary health care sector.

The Significance of this Problem in Advanced Nursing Practice

Weight gain, obesity, and diabetes are some of the disorders that increase peoples’ risks of fatal cardiovascular events. Of these disorders, obesity perhaps exerts the most pressure and impact on a population’s health and resources if its association with high morbidity and mortality is anything to go by. This problem is particularly felt in the advanced nursing subsector where health care for such patients has suffered from regards to prevention, intervention, treatment, and scarce resources. More importantly, the need to address the various challenges and perceptions of psychiatric conditions and SGA-associated obesity of different ethnic and racial groups has become a rather serious problem for nursing practitioners.

Obesity refers to a condition in which a person accumulates quite a lot of body fat so that it results in certain negative health effects (Kessler et al., 2004). In most cases, an individual whose body weight is at least 20% higher than it should be is considered to be obese. Additionally, if a person’s Body Mass Index (BMI) falls between 25 and 29.9, he/she is considered overweight and if one’s BMI ranges above 30, he/she is considered obese. The Body Mass Index (BMI) is a statistical measurement, which is a derivative of one’s height and weight and is often used to estimate a healthy body weight (Kessler et al., 2004). However, BMI does little to measure the percentage of body fat since it could be misleading sometimes. Although it is a rather useful health indicator for an average person, BMI may be misleading in determining the healthy body weight of a muscular person with a high BMI but less fat than an unfit person with a lower BMI.