bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The influence of neurocognitive deficits and symptoms on disability in schizophrenia
Authors: Ertuğrul A. , Uluğ B. 
Published: March 2003

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship of disability with neurocognitive deficits and symptoms in schizophrenia. Method: Sixty patients with schizophrenia and 30 healthy controls matched for age, sex and level of education were included in the study. Neurocognitive tests measuring attention, visual memory and executive functions were given. Severity of symptomatology was assessed by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Disability level of the subjects was assessed by World Health Organisation–Disability Assessment Schedule 2 (WHO–DAS‐2). Results: PANSS total score and the subscores were all correlated with DAS scores at a significant level. Neurocognitive test scores were not significantly associated with disability level. Regression analysis furthermore showed that symptom severity was predictive of the disability level. Conclusion: These results suggest that, rather than neurocognitive deficits, symptoms appear to have direct impact on the functioning of patients with schizophrenia in many domains of life.
Screening for major depression in Asian‐Americans: a comparison of the Beck and the Chinese Depression Inventory
Authors: Yeung A. , Neault N. , Sonawalla S. , Howarth S. , Fava M. , Nierenberg A. A. 
Published: March 2003

Objective: This study compares the effectiveness of the Chinese version of the Beck Depression Inventory (CBDI) and the Chinese Depression Inventory (CDI) in screening for depression among Chinese Americans. Method: Five hundred and three Chinese‐Americans in primary care were administered the CBDI and the CDI for depression screening. The results were compared with standard semistructured interview. Results: With empirically determined cutoff scores of the CBDI (≥13) and the CDI (≥16), both instruments have good sensitivity (0.78) and excellent specificity (0.91 and 0.93, respectively). The correlation between the total scores of the two instruments was high (0.785, P < 0.01). The areas under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve of the CBDI and the CDI were 0.94 and 0.95, respectively, and were not significantly different. Conclusion: When administered by nterviewers, the CBDI and the CDI have comparable effectiveness. Low participation among Chinese‐Americans with self‐report measures limits both scales as efficient depression screening instruments.
Age‐at‐onset and schizophrenia: reversed gender effect
Authors: Gangadhar B. N. , Panner Selvan C. , Subbakrishna D. K. , Janakiramaiah N. 
Published: March 2003

Objective: This study seeks an explanation for reversed gender effect on age‐at‐onset (AAO) in schizophrenia. The hypothesis is older AAO in males would be detected in a sample where higher infant mortality (IMR) prevailed. Method: Case records of International Classification of Diseases‐10 (ICD‐10) schizophrenia patients from two states (n=70 each) with an IMR of 13 and 67 per thousand were reviewed and AAO was obtained by using the recorded age and duration of illness. Results: In the sample from the state with lower IMR, AAO did not differ between the two sexes. However, men had older AAO than women in the state with fivefold higher IMR. Conclusion: Gender differences in AAO may be a function of perinatal complications. In places where infants with perinatal complications are less likely to survive, hence high IMR, a small group of potentially youngest AAO schizophrenic males may be eliminated thus changing the gender effect on AAO.
Recollections of parent–child relationships in patients with obsessive‐compulsive disorder and panic disorder with agoraphobia
Authors: Turgeon L. , O'Connor K. P. , Marchand A. , Freeston M. H. 
Published: March 2003

Objective: In previous studies, patients with different psychiatric conditions, as compared with matched controls, have reported that their parents were more protective and less caring towards them when they were children. However, studies investigating associations between parental behaviours and anxiety disorders have yielded inconsistent results. The aim of this study was to compare recalled parental behaviours in out‐patients with obsessive‐compulsive disorder (OCD), in out‐patients with panic disorder with agoraphobia (PDA), and in non‐anxious controls. Method: The sample included 43 out‐patients with OCD, 38 with PDA, and 120 controls. Participants completed the Parental Bonding Instrument and the Egna Minnen Beträffande Uppfostran or Own Memories of Parental Rearing Experiences in Childhood. Results: No differences were found between the two anxious groups. However, compared with the control group, anxious patients recalled their parents as more protective. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that child rearing practices such as overprotection may be a risk factor in the development of anxiety disorders.
Cannabis‐induced psychosis: a cross‐sectional comparison with acute schizophrenia
Authors: Núñez L. A. , Gurpegui M. 
Published: March 2003

Objective: The existence of cannabis‐induced psychosis (CP) remains controversial, partly because of methodological problems. We hypothesize that acute schizophrenia (AS) and CP can have distinct demographic, premorbid and clinical features. Method: We compared 26 patients with CP to 35 with AS, after their cannabis‐consumption status was confirmed by repeated urine screens. Patients with CP were assessed after at least 1 week but not more than 1 month of abstinence. Symptoms were evaluated with the Present State Examination (PSE). Results: In group CP, male gender, expansive mood and ideation, derealization/depersonalization, visual hallucinations, and disturbances of sensorium were more frequent than in group AS. Premorbid schizoid personality traits were more frequently associated to AS and antisocial personality traits to CP. Conclusion: The continuous heavy use of cannabis can induce a psychotic disorder distinct from AS. These two clinical entities share some features but they differ in others.
The prospectively observed course of illness among depressed patients who commit suicide
Authors: Coryell William , Haley James , Endicott Jean , Solomon David , Leon Andrew C. , Keller Martin , Turvey Carolyn , Maser Jack D. , Mueller Timothy 
Published: March 2003

Objective: These analyses were conducted to describe the course of illness among patients with major affective disorders who commit suicide. Method: Twenty‐nine patients who entered a long‐term, high‐intensity follow‐up study of major affective disorders and who later committed suicide within 1 year of their last follow‐up interview were individually matched to other patients by age, sex, the presence or absence of lifetime drug or alcohol abuse, time to last interview and polarity. Those who suicided were compared with their controls by depressive and substance abuse morbidity during follow‐up, treatment resistance, treatment compliance, suicidal behavior and psychosocial adjustment. Results: Among the various measures used to characterize the course of illness during a mean follow‐up of 4.3 years, only those pertaining to suicidal behavior robustly separated the suicide group from their controls. Suicidal behavior in the remote past seemed as predictively important as suicidal behavior during follow‐up. Conclusion: Of the various features monitored over time in patients with major affective disorder, suicidal behavior itself was the clearest correlate of risk for completed suicide.
Dopamine transporter gene (DAT1) VNTR polymorphism in major psychiatric disorders: family‐based association study in the Bulgarian population
Authors: Georgieva L. , Dimitrova A. , Nikolov I. , Koleva S. , Tsvetkova R. , Owen M. J. , Toncheva D. , Kirov G. 
Published: March 2003

Objective: A 40‐bp variable number tandem repeat in the 3′‐UTR of dopamine transporter gene (DAT1) has been examined for association with major psychiatric disorders in several case–control studies. No significant results have been found. We used a new collection of parent–offspring trios to test for association with schizophrenia (SZ), bipolar 1 disorder (BPI) and schizoaffective (SA) disorder. Method: We genotyped trios from Bulgarian origin where the proband had SZ (178 trios), BPI (77 trios) and SA (29 trios). Alleles ranging from 5 to 11 repeats were observed. The results were analysed with the extended TDT (ETDT). Results: No preferential transmission of alleles was observed for any diagnostic group. The presence of allele DAT*10 was associated with the severity and frequency of auditory hallucinations, however, this result is not significant if corrected for multiple testing. Conclusion: Our results are in agreement with previous reports of a lack of association between this polymorphism and major psychiatric disorders.
Self‐rated schizotypal cognitions, psychotic symptoms and the onset of schizophrenia in young people at high risk of schizophrenia
Authors: Miller P. McC. , Lawrie S. M. , Byrne M. , Cosway R. , Johnstone E. C. 
Published: March 2003

Objective: To examine the associations between the Rust Inventory of Schizotypal Cognitions (RISC) and psychotic symptoms measured by the Present State Examination (PSE) and to assess the predictive validity of the RISC for later onset of schizophrenia. Method: A total of 154 subjects at high risk for schizophrenia but who were currently well, 35 well controls and 28 first episode schizophrenic patients were assessed on specified PSE symptoms and completed the RISC. A subsample of the high risk group was subsequently monitored for onset of schizophrenia over 39 months. Results: RISC scores at entry were significantly higher in subjects with psychotic symptoms on PSE. There were indications that high scorers on the RISC were likely to develop schizophrenia. However, less than half of those falling ill exhibited high RISC scores on entry. Conclusion: The RISC scale is highly associated with presence of psychotic symptoms on PSE and high scorers may be at increased risk of schizophrenia onset.
Seasonal affective disorder in an Arctic community
Authors: Haggarty J. M. , Cernovsky Z. , Husni M. , Minor K. , Kermeen P. , Merskey H. 
Published: March 2003

Objective: To determine the rate of seasonal‐pattern depression in an Inuit community above 70°N. Method: One‐hundred and eleven people from randomly selected households were surveyed for depression and anxiety and the effect of the seasons on their mood. Eighty‐eight people provided replies on the influence of the seasons. Results: One in five (22.6%) of the community sample was found to be depressed. Of these, seven (6.3%) had seasonal affective disorder (SAD), with fall onset occurring in six of these (5.4%). Subsyndromal SAD (SSAD) occurred in 11.7%, while any effect of the seasons (seasonality) occurred in 39.6%. Persons with SSAD and seasonality were significantly older than those unaffected by the seasonal effect. No other significant correlation of SAD, SSAD, or seasonality occurred with gender, age, and language preference. Conclusion: Seasonal mood changes in this Inuit group living in the Canadian Arctic are elevated above the rates found in other studies using similar survey methods.
Public attitude to compulsory admission of mentally ill people
Authors: Lauber C. , Nordt C. , Falcato L. , Rössler W. 
Published: March 2003

Objective: Assessing the public attitude to compulsory admission of mentally ill in Switzerland and analyzing the influence of demographic, psychological, and sociological factors. Method: We conducted a representative telephone survey with 1737 interviewees. In a logistic regression analysis compulsory admission was used as the dependent variable. Results: More than 70% of the respondents display a positive attitude to compulsory admission. Education, negative stereotypes, and living in the French speaking part of Switzerland are predictors for accepting compulsory admission whereas older age, extreme political opinion, and rigid personality traits show an inverse effect. Negative emotions, anomie, social distance, and contact to mentally ill have no significant influence. Conclusion: The mostly positive attitude to compulsory admission suggests that the public trust in psychiatry to deal with the assigned responsibility.
Improvement in activities of daily living in elderly following treatment for post‐bereavement depression
Authors: Oakley F. , Khin N. A. , Parks R. , Bauer L. , Sunderland T. 
Published: March 2003

Objective: To determine if elderly bereaved depressed subjects display difficulty with activities of daily living (ADL) and if their ADL difficulty improves with psychopharmacologic intervention. Method: The Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS), an ADL assessment measuring ADL motor and ADL process skills, was administered to a pilot sample of elderly persons with post‐bereavement depression prior to psychopharmacologic intervention and subsequently during treatment response. Results: In the pretreatment phase, subjects displayed difficulty with ADL motor and ADL process skills that significantly improved during the treatment response phase. Conclusion: Results suggest that elderly bereaved depressed individuals demonstrated ADL difficulty that responds positively to psychopharmacologic intervention.
Olanzapine‐induced destabilization of diabetes in the absence of weight gain
Authors: Ramankutty G. 
Published: March 2003

Objective: To provide evidence that olanzapine can cause glucose dysregulation by a mechanism other than weight gain. Method: I report a case of a diabetic patient who developed glucose dysregulation soon after initiation of olanzapine treatment, occurring in the absence of weight gain. I compare this case to previous case reports. Results: Our patient developed persistent hyperglycaemia within 3 weeks of initiating treatment with olanzapine. Weight recorded just prior to commencement and soon after discontinuation of olanzapine were not significantly different. Conclusion: Controlled studies are necessary to elucidate the mechanism by which olanzapine can cause dysregulation of glucose homeostasis, and to develop guidelines for the use of olanzapine in patients with known diabetes as well as in patients with risk factors for diabetes.
Comparing patterns and costs of schizophrenia care in five European countries: the EPSILON study
Authors: Knapp Martin , Chisholm Daniel , Leese Morven , Amaddeo Francesco , Tansella Michele , Schene Aart , Thornicroft Graham , Vazquez‐Barquero Jose‐Luis , Knudsen Helle‐Charlotte , Becker Thomas ,   EPSILON Study Group
Published: March 2003

Objective: To compare service utilization and cost profiles of people with schizophrenia living in Europe in order to understand differences in treatment and care costs.Method: Cross‐sectional samples were taken of people with schizophrenia in five European locations. Sociodemographic, clinical and service use data were collected via interviewer‐administered questionnaires. Site‐specific unit costs were obtained, transformed subsequently into a single currency (UK £). Multiple regression analyses were conducted.Results: There were widespread and considerable differences between sites in service utilization patterns and associated costs. Higher needs, greater symptom severity and longer psychiatric history are associated with higher costs: quality of life and service satisfaction are not. Few differences were found between sites in patterns of association with cost.Conclusion: Comparative analyses of the use and cost of mental health services can highlight existing variations helpfully in service provision and uptake. Methodological consistency is required if meaningful conclusions are to be drawn from such comparative data.
The importance of the QT interval: a review of the literature
Authors: Elming H. , Sonne J. , Lublin H. K. F. 
Published: March 2003

Objective:  QT interval (QTi) prolongation is generally associated with increased risk of ventricular arrhythmias such as torsade de pointes (TdP) and death.Method:  Literature review based on publications identified by means of electronic and manual search.Results:  It has recently become apparent that not only antiarrhythmic drugs such as sotalol and quinidine, but also a variety of non‐antiarrhythmic drugs such as certain antihistamines, antimicrobial drugs, psychiatric drugs and cisapride, may have the ability to induce prolongation of the QTi and TdP. Special concern should be drawn to the coadministration of drugs that inhibit the metabolism of these drugs such as ketoconazole, itraconazol and erythomycin. Patients with congenital long QT syndrome, patients with heart disease, with hypokalemia or hypomagnesemia, and women have an increased risk. Every sign of dizziness or syncope should be regarded as a warning sign of possible arrhythmia in patients treated with drugs that potentially prolong the QTi.Conclusion:  Measurement of the QTi before and during treatment is generally recommended in high‐risk patients.
Does educational background explain inequalities in care service use for mental health problems in the Dutch general population?
Authors: ten Have M. , Oldehinkel A. , Vollebergh W. , Ormel J. 
Published: March 2003

Objective:  To investigate whether (1) education predicts the use of care services for mental health problems, independently of mental disorder and functional impairment and (2) education modifies the association between mental disorder and service use.Method:  Predictors of service use were recorded at baseline, and service use itself at 12‐month follow‐up, in a representative sample (N=7076) of the Dutch population, using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview.Results:  People with more education were less likely to use primary care but more likely to use mental health care. The effects on both types of care remained significant after adjustment for mental disorder and functional impairment. Lower education tended to strengthen the association between mood or anxiety disorder and primary care use.Conclusion:  Further research on inequalities in service use will benefit from additional explanatory analyses and from the inclusion of sociopsychological variables, like cost‐benefit considerations in decisions to use services.
Addiction, stigma and movies
Authors: Cape G. S. 
Published: March 2003

Objective:  To identify common character stereotypes of alcohol and other drug users as portrayed in motion pictures.Method:  A selective review of a number of movies prominently portraying alcohol and other drug use and misuse.Results:  The great majority of popular films portray alcohol and drug use whether as a routinized background, routinized foreground or exceptional foreground. Four main stereotypes of alcohol and other drug users appear to be prevalent – the tragic hero, the demonized user, the rebellious free spirit and the comedic user. A number of movies are selected which portray alcohol and other drug use as a prominent theme.Conclusion:  Movies, as a medium for mass communication, have a powerful influence on the public and perpetuate popular mythologies regarding alcohol and other drug use.
Life events and depressiveness – the effect of adjustment for psychosocial factors, somatic health and genetic liability
Authors: Romanov K. , Varjonen J. , Kaprio J. , Koskenvuo M. 
Published: March 2003

Objective: To study the nature of the relationship of life events with depressiveness.Method: In 1990, 9947 Finnish adult twins aged 33–60 years participated in a questionnaire study, with no missing data on the analysed variables. The relationship between stressful life‐events and depressiveness, based on Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) classified as normal, mild or moderate, was analysed using multinomial regression for all subjects with adjustment for the effect of age, sex, health status, social support, marital status, social class, and personality variables. These same factors were analyzed among 643 twin pairs discordant for depressiveness.Results: High BDI score categories were strongly associated with stressful life events in all individuals and equally strongly within discordant twin pairs, both monozygotic and dizygotic. Poor somatic health and lack of social support also increased depressiveness.Conclusion: The effect of life events predicting depressiveness was independent of social support, somatic disease, sex and genetic liability.
What patient characteristics make clinicians recommend brief treatment?
Authors: Schaefer B. A. , Koeter M. W. J. , Wouters L. , Emmelkamp P. M. G. , Schene A. H. 
Published: March 2003

Objective:  Assessing self‐rated items that might have an impact on clinicians recommending brief treatment (BT) over unlimited or long‐term treatment (ULT).Method:  On the basis of patient self‐report data we compared patients referred by clinicians to BT (n=71) with those referred to ULT (n=145).Results:  The final multiple logistic regression model indicates that the chance of being allocated to BT increases with: more satisfaction with support, higher self‐esteem, primary education or less, and high desire for support as an intervention. With regard to desire to confess in treatment, low and high scores make the chance of being allocated to BT lower. This is also the case for daily hassles. Finally, some specific target complaints, in particular anxiety, lower the chance of being allocated to BT.Conclusion:  Using data about patient's complaints and symptoms, stress and support, personality and coping, and request for type of intervention, we built a regression‐model that classified 80% of the patients correctly with regard to allocation to BT or ULT.
Characteristics of HIV patients who attempt suicide
Authors: Roy A. 
Published: March 2003

Objective: To examine the risk factors for suicidal behaviour in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive patients.Method: HIV substance dependent positive patients who had attempted suicide were compared with HIV substance dependent positive patients who had never attempted suicide for suicide risk factors.Results: Among the 149 HIV positive patients examined almost half had attempted suicide. Significantly more HIV positive patients who had attempted suicide were female. Attempters were significantly younger than non‐attempters. Significantly more of the attempters had a family history of suicidal behaviour. Attempters also reported significantly more childhood trauma, scored significantly higher for neuroticism, had experienced significantly more comorbidity with depression, and more of them had received antidepressant medication.Conclusion: These data suggest that both distal and proximal risk factors are involved in suicidal behaviour in HIV positive substance dependent patients.
Antipsychotics and QT prolongation
Authors: Taylor D. M. 
Published: March 2003

Objective:  To evaluate literature relating to cardiac QT prolongation and the use of antipsychotic drugs.Method:  Literature searches of EMBASE, Medline, PsychLIT were performed in December 2001 and reference sections of retrieved papers scrutinized for further relevant reports.Results:  The Cardiac QTc interval is difficult to measure precisely or accurately but appears to be a useful predictor of risk of dysrhythmia (specifically torsade de pointes) and sudden death. It is less clear that drug‐induced QTc prolongation gives rise to similar risks but data are emerging, linking antipsychotic use to increased cardiac mortality. Many antipsychotics have been clearly associated with QTc prolongation. Methodological considerations arguably preclude assuming that any antipsychotic is free of the risk of QTc prolongation and dysrhythmia.Conclusion:  Available data do not allow assessment of relative or absolute risk of dysrhythmia or sudden death engendered by antipsychotics but caution is advised. Risk of dysrhythmia can very probably be reduced by careful prescribing of antipsychotics in low doses in simple drug regimens which avoid metabolic interactions. Electrocardiographic monitoring may also help to reduce risk but review by specialist cardiologist may be necessary.