bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
First vs. multiple cannabis-induced psychotic episodes: Is inpatient treatment any different?
Authors: Andrade F. , Covelo V. , Machado A.S. 
Published: February 2022

IntroductionRecent studies reported very high cumulative risk for a patient who had cannabis-induced psychosis to be diagnosed with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder.ObjectivesWe aim to compare sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, treatment and discharge plan in cannabis-induced first psychosis episode (CI-FEP) vs. multiple cannabis-induced psychotic episodes (CI-MEP) inpatients.MethodsRetrospective observational study of inpatient episodes with a discharge diagnosis of cannabis-induced psychosis between January 1st, 2018 and December 31st, 2019 in the Psychiatry Service of CHUSJ. Descriptive analysis of the results was performed using the SPSS software, version 26.0.ResultsOur sample included 61 inpatients, 19 (31.1%) with CI-FEP and 42 (68.9%) with CI-MEP. CI-MEP group had a median of 1±0,234 previous hospital admissions. CI-MEP group has 10,0 higher odds of being discharged in outpatient compulsory treatment (CI 95% 1,21-82,50, p=0,013) and 6.0 odds of being treated with long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIAP) (CI 95% 1,79-20,31, p=0,002) when compared to CI-FEP group. Having multiple cannabis-induced psychotic episodes was associated with future admissions to psychiatry unit (OR 4,85 (95% CI 1,23-19,15, p=0,018). We found no statistically significant differences regarding the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, use habits and discharge plan between the two groups.ConclusionsPatients with multiple psychotic episodes due to cannabis use are more likely to have a LAIAP prescription, be discharged in compulsory outpatient regimen and be readmitted in to psychiatric inpatient unit. Considering the prevalence of CI-MEP and the risk of chronicity, we need integrative treatment programs to address the specificities of these patients.
Ekbom syndrome - a case report
Authors: Nascimento S. , Simião H. , Mendonça T. , Silva M. 
Published: February 2022

IntroductionDelusional parasitosis/infestation or Ekbom syndrome is an uncommon psychotic disorder characterized by a false belief that there is a parasitic infestation of the skin - the delusion that insects are crawling underneath the skin.ObjectivesThis work aims to summarize and evaluate the currently available evidence regarding Delusional parasitosis, and for this purpose, we will illustrate a case report of a patient admitted in the emergency room.MethodsThe authors have conducted online research in PubMed with the words “Delusional parasitosis” “delusional infestation”, “Ekbom syndrome”, from the outcome, the articles considered to be relevant were collected and analyzed.ResultsDelusional parasitosis can be classified into primary delusional parasitosis without other psychiatric or organic disorders present, secondary – functional (secondary to several mental disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, dementia, anxiety, and phobia), and organic forms (associated with hypothyroidism, anaemia, vitamin B12 deficiency, hepatitis, diabetes, infections (e.g., HIV, syphilis), and cocaine abuse. It is most commonly seen in middle-aged women. The patients became frequently socially isolated, prone to the development of depression symptoms.ConclusionsThis syndrome often presents a high level of psychosocial morbidity. Patients often seek dermatologists help in the first place, although there is no medical evidence. Psychiatrists play a major role in the diagnosis and treatment of these patients. Psychopharmacological therapy is quite challenging because of the patient’s belief that they have a parasitic infestation and not a psychiatric condition.
The impact of social cognition deficits on real life functioning in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome: A comparative study with a large population of patients with schizophrenia
Authors: Accinni T. , Frascarelli M. , Buzzanca A. , Ghezzi F. , Carlone L. , Panzera A. , Moschillo A. , Girardi N. , Fabio F. Di 
Published: February 2022

Introduction22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11.2DS) represents a congenital syndrome with several clinical features. It entails a 25% risk of psychotic onset in lifespan. 22q11.2DS is a reliable model for biological vulnerability to schizophrenia.ObjectivesWith the hypothesis of similar impairments in schizophrenia and 22q11DS, to investigate a possible correlation between Social Cognition (SC) and Interpersonal Functioning (FU).MethodsSample consists of 1735 adults: 893 schizophrenic subjects (SCZ); 18 with 22q11.2DS and psychosis (DEL_SCZ); 44 22q11.2DS individuals (DEL); 780 healthy controls (HC). SCZ and HC data come from a multicentric study by Network for Research on Psychoses. SC was assessed with The Awareness of Social Interference Test (TASIT, consisting of three sections: T1= Emotion Recognition; T2=Minimal Social Inference; T3=Social Inference Enriched). The Specific Levels of Functioning (SLOF) interview was employed.ResultsDEL_SCZ (p<0.001) and SCZ (p<0.001) showed impairments in each TASIT sections compared to HC. Significant deficits in interpersonal functioning area were found in SCZ (p<0.001) compared to HC. The interpersonal functioning domain showed a positive correlation with SC in HC (T1: r=0.097; p<0.001; T2: r=0.120; p=0.001; T3: r=0.121; p=0.001); DEL (T1: r=0.380; p=0.024; T2: r=0.466; p=0.005) and SCZ (T1: r=0.113, p=0.001; T2: r=0.110, p=0.001; T3: r=0.134; p<0.001).ConclusionsSC deficits both in subjects with 22q11.2DS and in people with schizophrenia suggest a role of endophenotypes. SC is directly correlated to interpersonal functioning in 22q11.2DS without psychosis and people with schizophrenia. DEL_SCZ may suffer from deeper cognitive and symptomatic conditions that both impact differently on FU.
Investigation of electrophysiological markers to predict clinical and functional outcome of schizophrenia using sparse partial least square regression
Authors: Giuliani L. , Popovic D. , Koutsouleris N. , Giordano G.M. , Koenig T. , Mucci A. , Vignapiano A. , Altamura M. , Bellomo A. , Brugnoli R. , Corrivetti G. , Lorenzo G. Di , Girardi P. , Monteleone P. , Niolu C. , Galderisi S. , Maj M. 
Published: February 2022

IntroductionDespite innovative treatments, the impairment in real-life functioning in subjects with schizophrenia (SCZ) remains an unmet need in the care of these patients. Recently, real-life functioning in SCZ was associated with abnormalities in different electrophysiological indices. It is still not clear whether this relationship is mediated by other variables, and how the combination of different EEG abnormalities influences the complex outcome of schizophrenia.ObjectivesThe purpose of the study was to find EEG patterns which can predict the outcome of schizophrenia and identify recovered patients.MethodsIllness-related and functioning-related variables were measured in 61 SCZ at baseline and after four-years follow-up. EEGs were recorded at the baseline in resting-state condition and during two auditory tasks. We performed Sparse Partial Least Square (SPLS) Regression, using EEG features, age and illness duration to predict clinical and functional features at baseline and follow up. Through a Linear Support Vector Machine (Linear SVM) we used electrophysiological and clinical scores derived from SPLS regression, in order to classify recovered patients at follow-up.ResultsWe found one significant latent variable (p<0.01) capturing correlations between independent and dependent variables at follow-up (RHO=0.56). Among individual predictors, age and illness-duration showed the highest scores; however, the score for the combination of the EEG features was higher than all other predictors. Within dependent variables, negative symptoms showed the strongest correlation with predictors. Scores resulting from SPLS Regression classified recovered patients with 90.1% of accuracy.ConclusionsA combination of electrophysiological markers, age and illness-duration might predict clinical and functional outcome of schizophrenia after 4 years of follow-up.
Reduced prefrontal activity and suicidal behaviour in early schizophrenia
Authors: Grigoriou M. , Reniers R. , Mallikarjun P. , Upthegrove R. 
Published: February 2022

IntroductionApproximately, 15- 26% of patients with first-episode psychosis, including schizophrenia, are likely to have attempted suicide by their first treatment contact. Studies of suicidal behavior outside of schizophrenia have indicated grey matter volume loss in the prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortex, and aberrant brain activity in relation to emotional recognition and dysfunction.ObjectivesThis study aimed to investigate the functional neural correlates of suicidal behavior in early schizophrenia.MethodsfMRI faces task was conducted (fearful face versus neutral face) in 8 participants with first-episode schizophrenia together with standardised scales including PANSS and SBQ-R. fMRI activation was compared using a two-sample t-test in participants with low and high suicidal behavior. Extent threshold is 0 voxels and significance level p<0.001 (FWE corrected). Processing of images was carried out using SPM12 and Matlab.Results8 participants were recruited; 5 males and 3 females, mean age of 26.5. Results suggest that participants with higher suicidal behaviour showed reduced activation on the anterior-cingulate gyrus and medial frontal gyrus, which are parts of PFC, (p= .005). There was also a significant difference in task response accuracy, where, participants with high suicidal behaviour made more accurate responses compared to low group (t (3) = 3.65, p = .035).ConclusionsThis is an exploratory study, investigated the differences in brain activity in patients with schizophrenia who are at risk of completed suicide and, therefore might provide new insights into the underlying mechanisms. Further work should address how PFC activity changes with risk over time and its potential utility as a biomarker in suicide.
The factors associated with subjective cognitive complaints in schizophrenia
Authors: Bouhamed M. , Sallemi R. , Kolsi S. , Feki I. , Masmoudi J. 
Published: February 2022

IntroductionSchizophrenia (SKZ) is a chronic, disabling and incapacitating psychiatric disorder. In addition to the traditional symptomes of schizophrenia, the suffering of this patients can be expressed through a set of cognitive complaintsObjectivesTo determe the factors associated with subjective cognitive complaints in schizophreniaMethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional descriptive and analytical study among a sample of of 72 patients followed in psychiatric outpatient of Hefi chaker university hospital in sfax. We used the SSTIC scale to determine subjectif complains ans the PANSS to evalue positif and negatif symptomesResultsThe mean age of our popularion was 46.83± 11.6 years. The patients had a low socio-economic level in 70.1%. They were unemployed in 46.9%, consumed alcohol in 23.6% and consumed tobacco in 58,6% of the cases. the total score on the PANSS scale was 46, distributed as follows: 9 for positive symptoms, 17 for negative symptoms and 22 for total psychopathological assessment. They had an average score of 25 on the total SSTICS score Factors significantly correlated with subjective cognitive complaints were: low socio-economic level (p=0.04), lack of occupation (p=0.001), alcoholism (p=0.001), smoking (p=0.01) and presence of negative symptoms (p=0.00).ConclusionsThis study demonstrates that socio-demographic characteristics and the predominance of negative signs may increase the subjectif cognitif complains in schizophrenia. The recognition of these associations by the psychiatrist can have an important implication in the therapeutic management.
Salience of self-identification of transsexual people in different stages of medical transition
Authors: Kumchenko S. , Tkhostov A. , Rasskazova E. 
Published: February 2022

IntroductionTranssexuals are considered to be stable in their identity (White Hughto et al., 2016). Meanwhile, the stages of medical transition affect the mental state of transsexuals differently.ObjectivesThe aim was to reveal relationships between salience of self-identification in transsexual people being on different stages of medical transition.Methods151 transsexual people: 55 pre-operated Female-to-Male (FtM I), 25 FtM on a hormonal therapy (FtM II), 25 FtM after some surgical operations (FtM III); 12 pre-operated Male-to-Female-Transsexual (MtF I), 16 MtF on a hormonal therapy (MtF II), 18 MtF after some surgical operations (MtF III). The participants filled the modificated Kuhn’s test “Who am I?” (Tkhostov et al., 2014). The modification includes a Likert scale for evaluating one’s self-identifications in terms of salience: “How often do You think or remember this answer?” (Stryker, 2007).ResultsThere were differences between identity salience and stages of medical transition (F = 7,177; P < 0,001; η2 = 0,108). Transsexuals before medical transition demonstrated higher levels of identity salience (average score is 7,62 in FtM I and 7,75 in MtF I). Transsexuals on a hormonal therapy demonstrated sharply decreased level of identity salience (6,97 in FtM II and 6,19 in MtF II). Transsexuals after surgical operations reported increased level of salience (7,81 in FtM III and 7,23 in MtF III). There were no statistically significant differences between the groups by gender assigned at birth.ConclusionsData suggest that medical transition could change the salience of self-identification. Hormone therapy is associated with a sharp revision of the salience of self-identifications for transsexuals.
The importance of mental and sexual health in addressing people with hiv - the double stigma
Authors: Nascimento S. , Gonçalves M. 
Published: February 2022

IntroductionHaving a mental disorder is associated with increased vulnerability to the transmission of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and the prevalence of HIV is higher in people with a severe mental disorder. People with psychiatric comorbidities such as bipolar affective disorder and depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (physical or sexual abuse) and/or psychoactive substance use have a higher risk of HIV infection.ObjectivesThis work is intended to expose the importance of integrating mental health care with the care of HIV patients.MethodsThe authors conducted a non-systematic review of the literature, conducting research through Pubmed and Medscape using the keywords ‘Preexposure prophylaxis’, ‘HIV’, ‘Mental health problems’.ResultsSeveral factors may contribute to the high comorbidity between HIV and Mental Disorders, including socio-demographic factors, weak social and environmental structures, as well as internalized stigma, social and experienced discrimination. Mental health problems may interfere with the care needed for prevention, including regular HIV testing and/or adherence to Preexposure Prophylaxis (PrEP); and influence access to and adherence to antiretroviral treatment.ConclusionsThis compelling evidence makes the necessary contribution of integrating mental health into an assessment and continuous treatment of the HIV patient, on the other hand, the assessment and treatment of mental disorders should address sexual health.
The complexity of vulnerability to psychosis
Authors: Fiorillo A. 
Published: February 2022

Schizophrenia is a complex mental disorder, which has been recently conceptualized as a neurodevelopmental disease. This conceptualization has changed the psychopathological approach to schizophrenia, which is now described as lying on a continuum from mild psychotic experiences to frank psychotic episodes. According to this theory, the presence of psychotic symptoms would represent the final pathway of a complex dysregulation and interaction of different genetic and environmental risk factors. As regards genetic liability, recent genome-wide association studies have identified a total of 108 loci containing common risk alleles, and which meet genome-wide significance. As regards environmental factors, higher rates of schizophrenia have been found in ethnic minority groups, in persons who are heavy cannabis smokers, in those who suffered from severe childhood traumas, in persons who have been reared in highly deprived settings. The identification of risk factors associated with vulnerability to psychosis is essential for improving our understanding and early detection of vulnerable individuals, and to propose tailored and timely interventions for sufferers. There is the need for an interdisciplinary approach to schizophrenia which includes screening procedures for individuals reporting specific vulnerabilities and treatment strategies tailored on patients’ needs.DisclosureNo significant relationships.
Effectiveness of cognitive remediation in schizophrenia: What works and what does not work?
Authors: Vita A. , Deste G. , Ceraso A. , Nibbio G. , Barlati S. 
Published: February 2022

Introduction: Cognitive function in schizophrenia is one of the main elements related to functional outcomes. Although there is enough evidence that cognitive remediation (CR) is beneficial, there is still a limited understanding of how the active therapy ingredients contribute to brain changes and translate into improved real-world functioning. Objectives: Identify neurobiological, psychopathological, cognitive, and functional CR response or resistance predictors in schizophrenia, considering both cognitive and functional outcomes. Results: We still lack a precise understanding of how CR produce its effects with different programs, different numbers of sessions, with and without a therapist. CR exerts its maximal benefit when delivered in the context of psychiatric rehabilitation, but it is not yet clear what are the mechanisms of integrated treatment effectiveness. Only a few studies have looked for the relationship between CR response or resistance and the biological, socio-demographic, clinical and cognitive features in schizophrenia. The current knowledge on efficacy predictors of CR is sparse and include: age, illness duration, premorbid adjustment, baseline cognitive performance, intrinsic motivation, hostility, disorganized symptoms, neurobiological reserve, genetic polymorphisms, antipsychotics amount, the type of CR, etc. All of these limitations may have contributed to the poor implementation of CR in national and international guidelines, as well as in clinical practice. Conclusions: It is important that future research shift from studies of group efficacy to individual efficacy of treatments, in the perspective of precision medicine. Issues related to individual effectiveness predictors and interactions between specific pharmacologic, specific CR technique and individual patients’ characteristics should be further addressed.DisclosureNo significant relationships.
Patterns of alcohol consumption in european pregnant women with alcohol use disorder
Authors: Pereira I. , Nogueira V. , Teixeira J. 
Published: February 2022

IntroductionPrenatal alcohol exposure can have a negative impact on a child’s neurocognitive development. Still, about 16% of European women maintain alcohol consumption, even after knowing they are pregnant. Several studies have shown that alcohol use patterns alter drastically during pregnancy. However, little is known about how these change in women with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) diagnosis.ObjectivesTo understand the impact of pregnancy on alcohol use patterns in women at high risk or with previous AUD diagnosis.MethodsBibliographic research was made through the PubMed/NCBI database. No time limit was specified on the search. Pertinent manuscripts were individually reviewed for additional relevant citations.ResultsSeveral factors influence alcohol consumption during pregnancy, including financial status, educational level, and high levels of psychological stress. Although older age at the onset of pregnancy is deemed a risk factor for alcohol consumption, women of 25 or fewer years of age are at higher risk for AUD, as are those with a history of criminal behaviour and family history of AUD. Pregnancy seems to play a critical role in altering alcohol use patterns, reducing the risk of AUD in about 70%, regardless of pregnancy trimester. This is seen even in women who present high-risk factors for AUD.ConclusionsPregnancy presents itself as a behavioural change promoter and should be regarded as a window of opportunity for intervention in women with AUD. However, there are few studies that focus on alcohol consumption patterns specifically in women with AUD, whereby making it necessary to extrapolate the available data.
Latent by-product of substance use: Burden of care
Authors: Channa A. , Mohsin H. 
Published: February 2022

IntroductionSubstance use affects it’s user and also risks the health of the caregivers.ObjectivesIdentify persons at risk of developing substance use disorder, assess the burden borne by the caregivers and development of psychiatric illness.MethodsClinical assessment based on DSM-V criteria was performed for SUD diagnosis. Data was recorded using Substance use risk profile scale (SURPs) on the patient and the caregivers were evaluated using M.I.N.I. International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I) and caregiver’s strain index (CSI).Results81 participants-96% were male, mean age 32.4 years, 53.1% married, 72.8% employed and 52% lived in joint family system). The substance use ascertained were alcohol 24.7%, benzodiazepines 21%, cannabis 34.6%, opioid 30.9% and others 4.8%. 50% had substance use lasting 2-9 years. 50.6% reported starting as a recreation and the perpetuating factor for 49.4%. was emotional distress. 44% quit due to family pressure. On SURP, 85.2% demonstrated anxiety sensitivity, 96.3% were hopeful, 66% sensation seeking and 77% were impulsive. Caregiver mean age was 37.8 years, with two-third being parents and spouses. The burden reported was sleep disturbance 59.3%, inconvenience (61.7%) physical strain 46.9%, confining 50.6%, family adjustment 76.5%, plan changes 65.4%, emotional adjustment 88.9%, behavioral adjustment 74.1%, financial strain 80.2%, work adjustment 46.9%, 71.6% felt overwhelmed and 67.9% were upset about the changes from former self. Major depressive disorder was identified in 51.9% of the caregivers.ConclusionsSURP identified personality features linked with risk of developing substance use disorder. The study also provided evidence for significant burden on caregivers and an increased likelihood to develop a psychiatric disorder.