bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Reduced total complement haemolytic activity in schizophrenic patients
Authors: Spivak Baruch , Radwan Marguerite , Brandon Jonathan , Baruch Yehuda , Stawski Mike , Tyano Sam , Weizman Abraham 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisSerum concentrations of the third and fourth components of the complement system and total complement haemolytic activity were measured in 167 psychiatric patients. Total complement haemolytic activity was decreased in chronic schizophrenic patients as compared to healthy controls and bipolar patients. The relatively diminished total haemolytic activity was not attributable to drug treatment. It is not clear if the reduced total haemolytic activity is an epiphenomenon or related to the involvement of an autoimmune process in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.
Cavum septum pellucidum in schizophrenia, affective disorder and healthy controls: a magnetic resonance imaging study
Authors: Jurjus George J. , Nasrallah Henry A. , Olson Stephen C. , Schwarzkopf Steven B. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisMany structural brain abnormalities have been described in schizophrenia, consistent with a neurodevelopmental model for this disease. We report here a study of the cavum septum pellucidum (CSP) in schizophrenia compared to control groups, as well as the clinical correlates of this congenital anomaly in schizophrenia. We conducted a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study to compare rates of CSP in schizophrenia (N = 67) v. psychiatric controls (bipolar and schizoaffective, N = 60) and healthy controls (N = 37). Of the controls 18·9 %, and of all psychotic subjects 18·1 % had a CSP of any size and there was no difference in the frequency of large CSP among the groups. Males had higher rates of CSP than females (25% v. 9·7%, P = 0·01) in all groups. Schizophrenics had higher CSP rates than affective patients (25%, v. 10%, P = 0·02). No clinical difference was found between schizophrenics with or without CSP.
Therapeutic advantage of bifrontal electrode placement in ECT
Authors: Letemendia F. J. J. , Delva N. J. , Rodenburg M. , Lawson J. S. , Inglis J. , Waldron J. J. , Lywood D. W. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisFifty-nine patients suffering from a major depressive episode, for whom electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) was clinically indicated, were randomly assigned to one of three electrode placement groups for treatment with brief pulse, threshold-level ECT: bitemporal (BT), right unilateral (RU) or bifrontal (BF). Comparison of these groups in terms of number of treatments, duration of treatment, or incidence of treatment failure, showed that the bilateral placements were superior to the unilateral; comparison of Hamilton, Montgomery–Åsberg, and visual analogue scale scores showed that the bifrontal placement was superior to both bitemporal and unilateral treatment. Bitemporal treatment showed therapeutic results intermediate between BF and RU. Because BF ECT causes fewer cognitive side effects than either RU or BT, and is independently more effective, it should be considered as the first choice of electrode position in ECT.
Major depression and phobias: the genetic and environmental sources of comorbidity
Authors: Kendler Kenneth S. , Neale Michael C. , Kessler Ronald C. , Heath Andrew C. , Eaves Lindon J. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisIn a population based sample of 2163 personally interviewed female twins, substantial comorbidity was observed between DSM-III-R defined major depression (MD) and 4 subtypes of phobia: agoraphobia, social phobia, animal phobia and situational phobia. However, the level of comorbidity of MD with agoraphobia was much greater than that found with the other phobic subtypes. We conducted bivariate twin analyses to decompose the genetic and environmental sources of comorbidity between MD and the phobias. Our results suggest that a modest proportion of the genetic vulnerability to MD also influences the risk for all phobic subtypes, with the possible exception of situational phobias. Furthermore, the magnitude of comorbidity resulting from this shared genetic vulnerability is similar across the phobic subtypes. By contrast, the non-familial environmental experiences which predispose to depression substantially increase the vulnerability to agoraphobia, have a modest impact on the risk for social and situational phobias and no effect on the risk for animal phobias. The increased comorbidity between MD and agoraphobia results, nearly entirely, from individual-specific environmental risk factors for MD which also increase the risk for agoraphobia but not for other phobias.
Psychiatric outcome of termination of pregnancy for foetal abnormality
Authors: Iles Susan , Gath Dennis 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisTermination of pregnancy for foetal abnormality has become frequent with the increasing sophistication of techniques of antenatal diagnosis. The aim of this study was to obtain quantitative and qualitative information about psychiatric morbidity in women after termination of pregnancy for foetal abnormality.Two samples of women were compared. The first consisted of 71 women who had had a termination of pregnancy for foetal abnormality (FA group). The second consisted of 26 women who had experienced so-called missed abortion (MA group). Both groups had lost a pregnancy in the mid-trimester of pregnancy, but the MA group had no element of choice.Standardized psychiatric and social measures were used to assess both groups on three occasions after the termination. In both groups, 4 weeks after the termination psychiatric morbidity was high (four to five times higher than in the general population of women), and social adjustement was impaired. Six months and 12 months after the abortion, levels of psychiatric morbidity were near normal.Semi-structured interviewing was used to obtain information about the experience of grief after mid-trimester termination. For many women, symptoms of grief persisted throughout the year. These symptoms included typical features of grief as well as grief symptoms specific to pregnancy loss. The findings have implications for the counselling of women after termination for foetal abnormality or after missed abortion.
How abnormal is the desire for slimness? A survey of eating attitudes and behaviour among Chinese undergraduates in Hong Kong
Authors: Lee Sing 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisUsing the 40-item Eating Attitudes Test and other self-report questions, a two-stage screening survey of 1020 (F 646, M 374) Chinese bilingual university students in Hong Kong showed that although female students were ‘underweight’ by Western standard, the majority of them and nearly all female students above a body mass index of 20·5 kg/m2were cognitively inclined to diet and weigh less, albeit without being driven to actual weight control behaviour. In contrast, most male students and a minority of constitutionally thin female students clearly wished to gain weight. While a number of items were culturally inappropriate, factor analysis supported the overall cross-cultural conceptual validity of the EAT. The principal factor, reflecting dieting concerns, correlated positively with the current body mass index. Among the high scorers, only three female students with partial syndrome bulimia nervosa were identified, yielding a low prevalence of 0·46% for the spectrum of eating disorders. It is argued that the desire for slimness is widespread but its intensity and pathogenic potentiality vary across cultures. In the relative absence of obesity, it may not lead to more eating disorder.
A study of the validity of the scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire in paralysed spinally injured out-patients
Authors: Griffiths T. C. , Myers D. H. , Talbot A. W. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThis study validates the GHQ-28 on a sample of paralysed, spinally injured outpatients under the care of the West Midlands Spinal Injuries Unit. The validity of the GHQ-28 was 0·83 (95% confidence interval: 0·70 to 0·93) using the Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS) as the validating criterion. The effectiveness of the GHQ-28 as a screening instrument using CIS 11/12 as case criterion, and thus a prevalence rate of 0·18, was judged by relative operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. The area under the ROC curve was 0·91±0·03. “Optimum’ discrimination occurred near GHQ 3/4 (0011 scoring scheme) giving a sensitivity of 0·81, a specificity of 0·82 and a misclassification rate of 18%.
A new interview for the multiaxial assessment of psychiatric morbidity in medical settings
Authors: Lobo Antonio , Campos Ricardo , Pérez-Echeverría M.-Jesús , Izuzquiza Julián , García-Campayo Javier , Saz Pedro , Marcos Guillermo 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisA new semistructured instrument, the Standardized Polyvalent Psychiatric Interview or SPPI has been developed primarily for assessing medical patients. It has been built on the Clinical Interview Schedule and is intended to evaluate individuals in a multiaxial schema: psychopathology, including duration and severity of disorder; somatic disturbance; social problems and social supports: and pre-morbid personality, with especial emphasis on ‘neuroticism’. The SPPI generates enough information to allow the use of different research diagnostic criteria, including DSM-III-R, ICD-10 and Goldberg's criteria of ‘attribution’ of somatic symptoms and ‘relationships between psychiatric and physical disorder’. It also includes a section related to recommended treatment. The new interview fulfils standards of feasibility, face and content validity. An incomplete block design, inter-rater reliability study was carried out with a consecutive sample of 48 out-patients referred to the Psychosomatic-Liaison Service of the University Hospital of Zaragoza. A broad range of agreement coefficients were calculated, the results being quite acceptable (most kappas are in the range from 0·7 to 0·9) and tending to support the procedural validity of the interview.
The development and use of the Verona Expectations for Care Scale (VECS) and the Verona Service Satisfaction Scale (VSSS) for measuring expectations and satisfaction with community-based psychiatric services in patients, relatives and professionals
Authors: Ruggeri Mirella , Dall'Agnola Rosa 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisIn this paper the global design of a research project aiming at measuring expectations and satisfaction of patients, relatives, and professionals with community-based psychiatric services (CPS) in a multidimensional, sensitive, valid and reliable way is described. Some psychometric properties of two newly developed instruments, partly adapted from the Service Satisfaction Scale (SSS), the Verona Expectations for Care Scale (VECS) and the Verona Service Satisfaction Scale (VSSS), are discussed. Three groups were selected for inclusion in the study: all patients living with their families who had more than 18 contacts in the last three years, according to the South-Verona Psychiatric Case Register; the relative who had been mainly caring for the patient; and all professionals working in the South-Verona CPS for at least one year. Data on 75 patients and 76 relatives are presented and show that VECS and VSSS have good content validity and test–retest reliability in both groups. Notwithstanding some differences, patients and relatives expressed similar expectations and were mostly satisfied. The current study is the first to provide a parallel measurement of expectations and satisfaction in all three above-mentioned groups; moreover, it is the first to investigate consumers' satisfaction with a CPS organized according to the principles of the Italian Psychiatric Reform.
Neuropsychological dysfunction in depression: the relationship to regional cerebral blood flow
Authors: Dolan R. J. , Bench C. J. , Brown R. G. , Scott L. C. , Frackowiak R. S. J. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThe relationship between neuropsychological test performance and regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was examined in 29 patients meeting Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) for major depression. Following a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment two subsets of tests, comprising tests that discriminated between patients and controls or between patients with varying degrees of global cognitive impairment, were selected. These subtests were entered into a principal components analysis (PCA) which generated a two-factor solution, accounting for 50% of the overall variance in test scores. Individual patient loadings on each of these factors were subsequently correlated with regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF), as measured by positron emission tomography (PET). Both factors demonstrated significant correlations with rCBF in the medial prefrontal cortex and frontal polar cortex while for each factor there were also unique patterns of correlations with posterior brain regions. The findings provide additional evidence that neuropsychological deficits in depression are associated with abnormalities in regional brain function and in particular with the function of the medial prefrontal cortex.
A longitudinal study of the neuropsychiatric consequences of HIV-1 infection in gay men. II Psychological and health status at baseline and at 12-month follow-up
Authors: Pugh K. , Riccio M. , Jadresic D. , Burgess A. P. , Baldeweg T. , Catalan J. , Lovett E. , Hawkins D. A. , Gruzelier J. , Thompson C. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThe aim of this study was to determine whether HIV infection is associated with increased psychosocial distress in the asymptomatic and early symptomatic stages of disease and to determine the factors associated with reporting health symptoms. Subjects included 61 gay men (41 HIV −, 20 HIV +) who were assessed at the time of requesting their first HIV test and again 12 months later. Measures included a detailed standardized psychiatric interview (Present State Examination, PSE), a range of psychosocial self-report measures and a physical symptom checklist. There were no differences between the HIV + and HIV − groups in terms of self-reported symptoms. Multiple regression analysis showed that the symptom reporting was not associated with clinical or immunological markers of disease progression but was associated with measures of psychosocial distress. Although both groups showed elevated levels of psychosocial distress at the time of HIV testing, there were no differences between serostatus groups at follow-up. Multiple regression analysis indicated that the best predictors of PSE scores at follow-up were baseline PSE score and a history of psychiatric illness. Early HIV disease is not associated with increased psychosocial distress and symptom reporting is more closely related to psychological measures than to clinical or immunological markers of disease.
Psychosocial predictors of vulnerability to distress in the year following heart transplantation
Authors: Dew M. A. , Simmons R. G. , Roth L. H. , Schulberg H. C. , Thompson M. E. , Armitage J. M. , Griffith B. P. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThis study examines psychological symptomatology in a cohort of 72 heart transplant recipients followed longitudinally during their first year post-transplant. In keeping with research on other domains of life stressors and illnesses, a central study goal was to identify pre-transplant and perioperative psychosocial factors associated with increased vulnerability to, and maintenance of, elevated psychological distress levels post-transplant. Average anxiety and depression levels, but not anger–hostility symptoms, were substantially elevated in the early post-transplant period, relative to normative data. Average symptom levels improved significantly over time, although one-third of the sample continued to have high distress levels at all follow-up assessments. Recipients with any of seven psychosocial characteristics at initial interview were particularly susceptible to continued high average distress levels over time: a personal history of psychiatric disorder prior to transplant; younger age; lower social support from their primary family caregiver; exposure to recent major life events involving loss; poor self-esteem; a poor sense of mastery; and use of avoidance coping strategies to manage health problems. Recipients without such factors showed improvement in average distress levels across the assessment period. These effects were stronger for anxiety than depressive symptoms, with the exception of a sizeable relationship between loss events and subsequent depression. The findings suggest that clinical interventions designed to minimize prolonged emotional distress post-transplant need to be closely tailored to heart recipients' initial psychosocial assets and liabilities.
The role of physical activity in the development and maintenance of eating disorders
Authors: Davis C. , Kennedy S. H. , Ravelski E. , Dionne M. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThis study was intended to establish the pathogenic significance of sport and exercise in the development of eating disorders. Hospitalized eating disordered patients and an age-matched control group were assessed. Historical and current physical activity data were collected. An in-depth interview was also conducted to ascertain the age of onset of the diagnostic symptoms for eating disorders, and to determine whether: (i) exercising predated dieting; (ii) patients had been involved in competitive athletics; (iii) exercise was excessive; and (iv) weight loss was inversely related to level of exercise. The results indicated that patients were more physically active than controls from adolescence onwards,andprior to the onset of the primary diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa. A content analysis of the interview data indicated that 78% of patients engaged in excessive exercise, 60% were competitive athletes prior to the onset of their disorder, 60% reported that sport or exercise pre-dated dieting, and 75% claimed that physical activity levels steadily increased during the period when food intake and weight loss decreased the most. Together our results suggest that overactivity should not be routinely viewed as a secondary symptom in anorexia nervosa, equivalent to other behaviours. For a number of anorexic women, sport/exercise is an integral part of the pathogenesis and progression of self-starvation.
Priming deficits in patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type
Authors: Burke J. , Knight R. G. , Partridge F. M. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisIn a study that replicated the procedures used by Salmon et al. (1988), the effect on stem completion performance of two different semantic orientation tasks has been assessed in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Previously reported findings of impairment in repetition priming in Alzheimer patients were confirmed. Performance was not affected by the nature of the orientation task. No significant correlations were found between explicit and implicit memory tests. The results are discussed in the context of a hypothesized parallel decline in explicit and implicit memory systems.
Diagnosis and length of psychiatric in-patient stay
Authors: McCrone Paul , Phelan Michael 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThis paper examines the link between diagnosis and length of psychiatric in-patient stay. Up to now the main method of predicting the use of in-patient services has been to use diagnosis-related groups (DRGs), primarily in the USA. Previous findings have revealed that DRGs generally predict less than 10% of variation in hospital stay. Psychiatric DRGs are considered to lack homogeneity and are too broad. Nevertheless, diagnosis, as an indicator of resource utilization, is now on the agenda in the UK and a study which examines the link between service use and diagnosis per se is called for. Altogether 5482 patients were allocated to 43 diagnostic categories (DCs). These DCs covered mental disorders, drug and alcohol-related problems, diseases of the nervous system and sense organs, and other related illnesses. Age was used in an attempt to refine the model further. Coefficients of variation were calculated for the DCs, and multivariate regression analysis was performed to gauge predictiveness. The results reveal that DCs contain extremely limited homogeneity and only predict 3% of variation in length of stay. When age group is included the results are only marginally improved, although the numbers contained in some DCs are low. Diagnosis, even when clearly defined, is a poor indicator of resource utilization.
The case of the amnesic intelligence officer
Authors: Kopelman M. D. , Green R. E. A. , Green E. M. , Lewis P. D. R. , Stanhope N. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThis paper describes a patient whose amnesia for an offence (fraud) and two fugue episodes occurred against the background of an underlying organic amnesia. The fugue states conformed in their duration and precipitating factors to previous accounts in the literature. The organic, anterograde memory impairment was attributed to multiple small infarcts and a larger infarction in the left medial temporal lobe, which were evident on MRI and PET scans after the patient had developed transient neurological signs. At follow-up, the anterograde amnesia had persisted, and the patient also showed some difficulty in retrieving autobiographical memories of past incidents or events, although other aspects of his retrograde memory were intact (including his knowledge of facts about his past life and his general knowledge of public events). The difficulty in retrieving autobiographical incidents may have resulted from the presence of a moderate degree of frontal lobe dysfunction or, just possibly, from ischaemia in the left anterior temporal lobe. The persistence of the organic memory impairment and the importance of both the clinical history and neuropsychological testing in assessment are discussed, as well as the need to examine for possible organic factors in patients who may initially appear to manifest purely ‘psychogenic’ memory loss.
The illness of Ludwig II of Bavaria
Authors: Hay G. G. 
Published: July 2009

synopsisIt has been argued by many biographers of King Ludwig II that he was not mentally ill but simply labelled mad as part of a conspiracy to remove him from the throne. The evidence for his mental disorder is reviewed and the conclusion drawn that he was probably suffering from a schizophrenic illness of some twenty years duration prior to his suicide in 1886.
Some factors influencing the effects of temporary mother-infant separation: some experiments with rhesus monkeys
Authors: Hinde R. A. , McGinnis Lynda 
Published: July 2009

synopsisSome experiments, reported in detail elsewhere, on the effects of mother–infant separation in rhesus monkeys are here reviewed and compared. They involved 4 groups – one in which mothers were removed for 13 days leaving the infant in the social group; one in which infants were removed; one in which mothers and infants were removed and separated; and one in which mothers and infants were removed but not separated. The nature of the separation experience had a profound effect on the infant's response: infants left in a familiar environment while their mothers were removed showed marked but brief ‘protest’ and then profound ‘despair’, whilst infants removed to a strange cage showed more prolonged ‘protest’. A major factor determining the effects of the separation experience in the weeks following reunion is the degree to which the mother–infant relationship has been disturbed by it. The multiplicity of factors affecting the outcome of a separation experience are discussed.