bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of mental disorder and related treatments in a local jail: a 20-month consecutive case study
Authors: Carrà Giuseppe , Giacobone Caterina , Pozzi Florinda , Alecci Pasquale , Barale Francesco 
Published: October 2011

SummaryAims – To define the prevalence of mental disorder within an Italian local jail and to describe main psychiatric treatments provided. Methods – Cross-sectional study of consecutive male prisoners referred, over a twenty-month period, for a clinical psychiatric assessment, among population (N=990) of Casa circondariale “Torre del Gallo”, Pavia (I); clinical DSM-IV diagnostic assessment and retrospective analysis of provided psychiatric treatments (i.e. psychiatric visits and pharmacological prescriptions). Results – 191 men (19.3%) had one or more current mental disorders (excluding substance misuse), including 13 (1.3%) psychosis; 53 (5.4%) mood disorder; 24 (2.4%) anxiety disorder; 26 (2.6%) adjustment disorder; 40 (4.1%) personality disorder; 32 (3.2%) personality disorder plus mood disorder; 3 (0.3%) mental retardation. Substance- (N=89, 47%) and HIV-related (N=19, 10%) disorders comorbidity is recognised. Psychiatric visits are mainly provided to psychosis and personality disorder plus mood disorder subgroups. Off-label antipsychotics prescriptions are frequent. Conclusions – The prevalence of mental disorder in this population is higher than US and EU averages, and for particular diagnostic subgroups it could be underestimated. Psychiatric management in prison should be reorganized according to national and European health guidelines.
Schizophrenia: still Kraepelin's Dementia Praecox?
Authors: Häfner Heinz 
Published: October 2011

SummaryAsking whether E. Kraepelin's early dementia praecox and disease concepts (1896) are still valid today, we condensed his early theory into four theses:1) schizophrenia is a disease entity, distinguishable from affective psychosis. 2) It is caused by a specific neuropathology. 3) It usually manifests itself in adolescence or early adulthood. 4) Underlying schizo- phrenia is a progressive disease process that leads to defects and dementia.Having tested whether Kraepelin's dementia praecox and modern schizophrenia are actually comparable, we studied 1) how schizophrenia and depression are linked or separable in terms of symptoms, risk factors and illness course from onset until five years after first treatment contact. The analyses are based on a population-based sample of 130 first admissions because of schiz- ophrenia, 130 age- and sex-matched first admissions because of unipolar depressive disorder and 130 “healthy” population con- trols from the study area. 2) Results will be presented that, though not very specific, confirm Kraepelin's farsighted hypothesis of a neuropathological basis of the disorder. In this context it will be discussed whether the brain changes are developmental or degenerative in origin. 3) The distribution of age of onset extends far into old age. In a sample of 1109 consecutive first admis- sions because of nonaffective psychosis from the total age range it was shown that age-dependent developmental factors mod- ify certain components of symptomatology linearly and significantly. The main risk factors, too, significantly change with age. 4) Long-term course was examined in three studies of epidemiologically recruited first-episode samples: Study 1 included five cross sections over 5 years, Study 2 was a prospective pre-post-comparison over 12 years supplemented by a retrospective assessment of the illness course (IRAOS) and Study 3 encompassed 10 cross sections over fifteen years. Finally, the disease concept of schizophrenia, as it presents itself in the light of current knowledge, will be outlined and compared with Kraepelin's earlier and later view of the disorder.Declaration of Interestthe paper is based on a lecture (Lettura magistrale) presented at the SIEP Sesto Congresso Nazionale, “Gli Esiti della Schizofrenia - Trattamenti, Pratica nei Servizi, Valutazione” in Sirmione, November 6-8, 2003. Unfortunately, the illustrations shown there and some 20 % of the relevant references could not be included in this printed ver- sion for lack of space. This paper was written within the framework of the German Research Network on Schizophrenia and was funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research BMBF (grant 01GI 0236). The ABC study was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) as part of the Special Research Branch (Sonderforschungsbereich) 258 at the Central Institute of Mental Health until December 1998. From January 1999 to Sept. 2002 it was continued to be funded by the DFG.
An observational study of effectiveness in community residential facilities
Authors: Lora Antonio , Contartese Antonio , Franco Maurizio , Crocina Lo Maglio Maria , Molteni Emanuela , Pallavicini Alessandra , Rasi Elena , Rossini Maristella , Violanti Elisabetta , Lanzara Dino 
Published: October 2011

SummaryAims — Evaluation of community residential facilities effectiveness in the Department of Mental Health of Desio (Milan). Method — Outcomes in symptoms, disability, family burden and quality of life were evaluated during one year through a longitudinal study, using a pre—test and post test design without control group. Results — Residential care is effective in reducing disability and symptoms, while it is not effective towards family burden. Quality of life is improved in some domains, but not in others (e.g. social and family relationships). Conclusions — Outcome assessment is feasible in residential facilities, following a multiaxial and multifactorial model. We need to clarify the goals of residential care, focussing on active components of the residential treatment.Declaration of Interestthe research project was funded by Department of Health of Regione Lombardia (DGR n. 37596 del 24.7.1998).
Analysis of patterns of mental health care with three different approaches (cross-sectional, longitudinal and dynamic)
Authors: Küstner B. Moreno , González F. Torres , Del Castillo J.D. Luna 
Published: October 2011

RIASSUNTOScopo– Questo articolo si propone di fornire una panoramica dei diversi metodi di analisi delle informazioni relative alFutilizzazione dei servizi secondo approcci differenti.Metodi– E' stata predisposta un review sistematica degli studi suipatterndi cura. L'analisi suipatterndi cura è stata divisa secondo tre differenti approcci:cross-sectional, longitudinale e dinamico.Risultati– Negli studicross-sectional, le informazioni sull'utilizzazione sono basate sui numero totale dei contatti con i servizi di salute mentale, in un certo periodo. Nel secondo approccio, chiamato longitudinale, l'analisi di sopravvivenza è applicata considerando l'intervallo di tempo tra ciascun contatto. Il terzo tipo di contatto, chiamato qui approccio «dinamico», comporta l'applicazione di modelli matematici basati sulle catene markoviane per analizzare la probabilità di cambiamento da un tipo di contatto all'altro.Conclusioni– Si sottolinea la necessita di studi ulteriori predisposti per analizzare i dati dei registri psichiatrici dei casi con modelli standardizzati per l'analisi dell'utilizzazione dei servizi psichiatrici.
Symptoms and social functioning features in chronic schizophrenia are aggregate in a tripartite structure
Authors: Di Michele Vittorio , Bolino Francesca , Di Zio Gabriella , Pincini Paola 
Published: October 2011

RIASSUNTOScopo– Verificare l'esistenza di correlazioni fra sintomatologia schizofrenica e variabili multidimensionali del funzionamento sociale e se tali correlazioni possano condurre ad una precisazione classificativa orientata sull'esito attraverso una metodica empirica.Disegno– Quaranta pazienti affetti da schizofrenia cronica con diagnosi accertata clinicamente e attraverso criteri diagnostici sono stati arruolati.Setting–Ipazienti erano in carico ad un Centro di Salute Mentale ed erano in fase stabilizzata di malattia definita con criteri operativi.Principali misure utilizzate– Per la valutazione psicopatologica è stata utilizzata laPositive And Negative Syndrome Scalee laClinical Global Impression.Il funzionamento sociale è stato valutato con laLife Skills Profilee la Scala di Valutazione del Funzionamento Globale.Risultati– Esiste una correlazione fra variabili sintomatologiche e psicosociali che suggerisce un costrutto unitario. A tali variabili soggiaciono 2 fattori principali in grado di spiegare il 79% della varianza che consentono di differenziare il campione in tre gruppi sulla base della Cluster analysis. Sia i sintomi positivi che negativi risultano embricati con alcune aspetti del funzionamento sociale, ma non con tutti.Conclusioni– I sintomi e le variabili psicosociali dei pazienti si aggregano in una struttura omogenea tripartitica. Tale dato suggerisce l'esistenza, nell'ambito di un concetto unitario, di una differenziazione sindromica derivabile con criteri empirici e orientata prognosticamente.
Neuropsychological and neuropsychiatric perspectives on maternal cradling preferences
Authors: Sieratzki Jechil S. , Woll Bencie 
Published: October 2011

SUMMARYObjective – To assess competing explanations for the universal preference of mothers to cradle infants on their left side and to propose a relation to hemispheric asymmetry for social attachment and communication behaviour. Methods – A review of observational, experimental, physiological, psychological, neuro-physiological, and neuro-psychological studies, including new findings on the cradling behaviour of mothers with auditory or visual impairments. Results – A significant left-cradling bias is observed in both right- and left-handed mothers which cannot adequately be explained by arguments based on handedness or closer contact to the soothing sound of the maternal heartbeat. Observations of primate behaviour have led to the suggestion that the left-cradling bias may be related to a left visual field (right hemisphere) advantage for monitoring an infant's facial expressions of distress. However, more than just monitoring, cradling subserves the mother's connection with the infant. For that reason, we have suggested that left cradling might be related to a right hemisphere specialisation for emotional communication, i.e. the speech melody, smiles, signals, and stroking which mothers use to interact with their infants. Studies of mother-infant interaction show that the sound of the mother's voice is more soothing when cradling on the left, more stimulating when cradling on the right. Cradling laterality may thus be related to emotional state and behavioural intent. There is also evidence to suggest that left cradling is linked to a special role of the right hemisphere in social attachment behaviour. This function may be disturbed in mothers with postnatal depression who show abnormal right hemisphere activity. Conclusion – Cradling embodies the symbiotic relationship between mother and infant; various lines of evidence support the suggestion that the universal preference of mothers to cradle infants on their left side is related to a right hemisphere dominance for social attachment and communication behaviour.
The impact of routine outcome measurement on treatment processes in community mental health care: approach and methods of the MECCA study
Authors: Priebe Stefan , McCabe Rosemarie , Bullenkamp Jens , Hansson Lars , Rössler Wulf , Torres-Gonzales Francisco , Wiersma Durk 
Published: October 2011

SUMMARYThree issues characterise the background to the MECCA study: A) Throughout Europe, most patients with severe forms of psychotic disorders are cared for in the community. The challenge now is to make processes in community mental health care more effective. B) There are widespread calls to implement regular outcome measurement in routine settings. This, however, is more likely to happen, if it provides a direct benefit to clinicians and patients. C) Whilst user involvement is relatively ?" easy to achieve on a political level, new mechanisms may have to be established to make the views of patients feed into individual treatment decisions. The MECCA study is a cluster randomised controlled trial following the same protocol in community mental health teams in six European countries. In the experimental group, patients' subjective quality of life, treatment satisfaction and wishes for different or additional help are assessed in key worker-patient meetings every two months and intended to inform the therapeutic dialogue and treatment decisions. The trial tests the hypothesis that the intervention – as compared to current best standard practice – will lead to a better outcome in terms of quality of life and other criteria in patients with psychotic disorders over a one year period. This more favourable outcome is assumed to be mediated through different treatment input based on more appropriate joint decisions or a more positive therapeutic relationship in line with a partnership model of care or both. Moreover, the study will hopefully reveal new insights into how therapeutic processes in community mental health care work and how they can be optimised.
Estimating the causal effects of treatment
Authors: Dunn Graham 
Published: October 2011

SUMMARYObjective – To provide a relatively non-technical review of recent statistical research on the analysis and interpretation of the results of randomised controlled trials in which there are possibly all three of the following types of protocol violation: non-adherence to allocated treatment, contamination (that is, patients receiving treatments other than the one to which they were allocated) and attrition (missing outcome data). Methods – The estimation methods involve the use of potential outcomes (counterfactuals) in the definition of a causal effect of treatment and in drawing valid inferences concerning its size. Results – The methods are explained through the use of simple arithmetical expressions involving the counts from three-way contingency tables (Outcome by Treatment Received by Random Allocation). Illustration is provided through the use of a hypothetical data set. Conclusions – Recent advances in statistical methodology enable one to estimate treatment effects from the results of randomised trials in which the treatment actually received is not necessarily the one to which the patient was allocated. These methods allow one to make adjustments to allow for both non-compliance and loss to follow-up. Even for such a 'broken' randomised trial, inference concerning causal effects is safer than that from data arising from an observational study that never involved random allocation in the first place.
Suicide in Verbano-Cusio-Ossola province: decade 1990-2000
Authors: Torre Eugenio , Zeppegno Patrizia , Usai Carmen , Rudoni Marco , Ammirata Gianluca , De Donatis Olivia , Manzetti Elena , Marangon Debora , Migliaretti Giuseppe 
Published: October 2011

RIASSUNTOScopo– Scopo del presente lavoro è quello di effettuare uno studio epidemiologico sul suicidio nella provincia del Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, tra il gennaio 1990 e il dicembre 2000.Disegno– Il lavoro si basa sull'acquisizione di dati attraverso l'analisi dei modelli 45, che registrano tutti i casi di morte violenta e di suicidio, archiviati presso la Procura della Repubblica di Verbania.Setting– La provincia del Verbano-Cusio-Ossola si estende per 2255 Km2 e conta 161248 abitanti. La Procura di Verbania copre l'intero territorio della provincia considerata.Principali misure utilizzate– Le informazioni rilevate sul campione sono state presentate in termini di analisi descrittive, stima dei tassi standardizzati della provincia del Verbano-CusioOssola. Allo scopo di valutare differenze rispetto alia media del Nord Italia, vengono utilizzati i Rapporti Standardizzati di Mortalita (RSM) ed i relativi intervalli di confidenza (IC 95%).Risultati– Negli undid anni considerati sono stati notificati aH'autorita giudiziaria 297 casi di suicidio con un tasso medio annuo di 16.74/100000 abitanti. La frequenza del suicidio nel corso degli anni presi in esame mostra un andamento disomogeneo, con significative differenze tra i due sessi. L'analisi dei RSM evidenzia la maggiore incidenza del suicidio nella provincia analizzata rispetto alia popolazione generale del nord Italia nello stesso periodo, differenza dovuta, in misura maggiore, all'elevato tasso femminile. L'analisi dei diversi parametri sociodemografici della popolazione in esame conferma i dati della letteratura intemazionale: il suicidio à più diffuso in età avanzata, tra le persone vedove e pensionate.Conclusioni– Il presente lavoro intende fornire una descrizione del fenomeno suicidio, inserendolo in un contesto geografico e culturale specifico, nell'intento di metterne in luce gli aspetti problematici in un'ottica diagnostico-clinica, che possa servire da stimolo ad un lavoro preventivo su più larga scala.
HoNOS-Rome: an expanded, customized, and longitudinally oriented version of the HoNOS
Authors: Morosini Pierluigi , Gigantesco Antonella , Mazzarda Angelica , Gibaldi Loredana 
Published: October 2011

SUMMARYAims– To clarify the acceptability, reliability and factorial validity of a new Italian version of the HoNOS called HoNOS-Rome. Its main innovations are both in design and in contents.Methods– Face validity was assessed by surveying 3 focus groups. Reliability was assessed in 8 different pairs of raters on a sample of 24 patients; construct validity was analysed by factor analysis using a sample of 187 patients at 6 day centres. Acceptability was investigated by means an anonymous questionnaire filled by professionals that were using the instrument.Results– Time of completion was low (range 4–12 minutes), the tool proved very acceptable and the reliability was good (weighted kappa ≥ 0.71 for all items). Factor analysis was consistent with the division of HoNOS–Rome into four sensible factors accounting for 52% of the total variance.Conclusions– The findings indicate that HoNOS–Rome has a satisfactory degree of acceptability, construct validity and reliability, and may promote the routine evaluation of outcomes in mental health services.Declaration of Interest: the authors declare that the study was supported by grant no. 96/Q/T41 of the Italian National Mental Health Project – Istituto Superiore di Sanità – Sub-project: Development and validation of tools for outcome evaluation of mental health services, Italy (Professor P. Morosini).
Patient cues and medical interviewing in general practice: examples of the application of sequential analysis
Authors: Zimmermann Christa , Piccolo Lidia Del , Mazzi Maria Angela 
Published: October 2011

SUMMARYAims – To illustrate how sequence analysis may be applied to the medical interview to: 1. explore how physicians without formal training in communication skills elicit and respond to patient cues and expression of expectations and opinions; and 2. test the hypothesis that physicians' closed ended questions determine the use of subsequent closed ended questions. Methods – 238 consultations in primary care, coded with the Verona Medical Interview Classification System, were analysed. Lag 1 analysis was applied to study which physician behaviour precedes and follows patient cues. Pattern recognition analysis for five lag sequences was performed to test the occurrence of predefined specific code chains, where a closed and an open ended question were followed either by two closed-ended questions or by two patient facilitating interventions Results – Patients' cue offers were most likely after facilitative interventions, but not after open-ended questions; physicians were most likely to respond to these expressions with facilitation. Physicians' tendency to use closed ended questions increased after previous closed questions and decreased after an open-ended question. Conclusions – Lag sequential analysis and pattern recognition analysis are useful methods to study exploratory and theory driven hypotheses and allow an initial approach to validate the supposed appropriateness of specific physician interventions.Declaration of Interest: none.
Eating disorders and their correlates in high school adolescents of Northern Italy
Authors: Toselli Anna Linda , Villani Simona , Ferro Antonio Maria , Verri Anna , Cucurullo Laura , Marinoni Alessandra 
Published: October 2011

SUMMARYObjective – The study investigated eating disordered behaviours and life-habits correlated in a large sample of Northern Italian adolescents of both sexes. Methods – The study had a cross-sectional design. 2595 students (2,146 responders; mean age 17.2±1.7 years) attending high schools in Savona (Italy) in April and May 2001 were sampled. To assess eating attitudes, the Inventory for the Screening of Eating Disorders (ISED) was self-administered. Inquiries regarding possible risk factors for eating disorders were also made: socio-economic status, body weight, smoking and alcohol drinking habits, illegal drugs use. Results – Females scored significantly higher than males at ISED (13.4±7.7 vs. 7.6±5.8). 28.5% of females had a total ISED score above the cut-off point (18/19). Unhealthy eating behaviours were strongly associated with higher BMI, body image disturbance and illegal drugs use in both sexes; age had significant role only in males. No significant association between disordered eating behaviours and socio-economic status, smoking habit and alcohol consumption were found. Conclusions – Symptoms of eating disorders are quite spread in the Northern Italian female adolescents and associate with illegal drugs use. These data, with not negligible frequency of unhealthy eating behaviours and attitudes in males too, suggest that primary and secondary preventive interventions for teen-agers should be got ready.Declaration of Interest: 1) the study received the financial support by Regione Liguria and ASL 2 of Savona; 2) the study didn't receive any forms of financing by pharmaceutical company support and any honoraria for consultancies or interventions was received by each author in the last two years; 3) any other involvements that might be considered a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article. The authors state that if and when the manuscript accepted for publication, they automatically agree to transfer the copyright to the publisher