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SummaryIn order to assess the accuracy of schizophrenia diagnoses for genetic studies, we identified all schizophrenia patients (n = 492) in an isolated community with a diagnosis of schizophrenia in the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register (HDR) between 1969-1991. For the accuracy study we identified a sample of 73 patients from registers with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)-III-R for schizophrenia (codes 295.10, 295.30, 295.60, 295.90) (n = 62) or “schizophrenia spectrum” diagnoses (295.40, 295.70, 297.10, 301.20, 301.22) (n = 11). When the operational criteria (DSM-III-R) were applied by two senior researchers using information from the original mental hospital records, 93% (68/73) of the cases fulfilled criteria for schizophrenia or schizophrenia spectrum. The results demonstrate that the schizophrenia diagnoses of the registers are accurate when a broad concept of schizophrenia is applied. When using operational DSM-III-R schizophrenia criteria, eight false positive cases were found among the 62 mental hospital schizophrenia diagnoses. Consequently, there may be a need to reassess schizophrenia diagnoses depending on the purpose of the study. We also found good agreement between DSM-III-R (kappa 0.93) and operational criteria (OPCRIT) diagnostic system (kappa 0.89) diagnoses, made by one researcher, compared with operational diagnoses. This indicates the possibility for the reliable use of one of these methods alone for diagnostic reassessment. The information in the HDR on primary diagnoses and on the dates of admission and discharge was accurately transferred from the hospital records.

Background Diagnosis at first admission is an important variable in epidemiological studies but concerns regarding stability need to be adressed. Aims To investigate the persistence of diagnosis at first admission within 10 years in a nationwide cohort of psychiatric inpatients with 25 year follow-up. Methods A cohort was established from a database of all persons admitted to psychiatric wards in Iceland from 1983 to 2008. Those who became 18 during the study period 1983-2007 were selected for this analysis. The outcomes were the diagnosis at first diagnosis, and within 1, 2, 5 or 10 years, after first admission for the following diagnostic groups; substance use disorders, mood disorders, personality disorders, schizophrenia and related disorders were studied using descriptive methods. Results Some 4959 were included in the study, 50.4% were men (n=2504). Mean (sd) age at first admission was 27 (± 6.1) years. Most or 51% (2542/4959) were admitted more than once during the study period. Of those who were ever diagnosed with an SUD 87% (2214/2535) received an SUD diagnosis at first admission. In mood disorders, 80% (1771/2203) and anxiety disorders 76% were diagnosed at first admission. Only 67% (372/559) of those ever diagnosed with schizophrenia or similar and 60% (663/1098) of those ever diagnosed with personality disorders received the diagnosis at first admission. Conclusion In register-based research diagnosis at first admission is a good indicator for SUD and mood disorders, but less so for personality disorders and schizophrenia or related disorders.

Introduction The mortality among homeless people is linked to the presence of psychiatric disorders. Objectives We compared the risk of specific death causes among clients of the Public Mental Health care (PMHc) in Utrecht with that of the general population, and assessed whether treatment at a local psychiatric service is associated with this risk. Aims To clarify the association between the presence of a mental disorder and mortality among the socially marginalized. Methods Out of 8,741 clients in the PMHc register, the records of 6,724 could be linked to the registries of Statistics Netherlands (CBS). Controls (N=66,247) from the population register were personally matched to a PMHc client. A Cox regression analysis was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) of death. Results An increased all-cause mortality among PMHc clients compared to controls was found (HR=2.99, 95%-CI: 2.63- 3.41), associated with a broad range of death causes.PMHc clients with record linkage to the Psychiatric Case Registry Middle Netherlands (’PMHc+’) had an increased risk of suicide (HR=2.63, 0.99-7.02), but a lower risk of death from natural causes (HR=0.71, 0.54-0.92), compared to PMHc clients without (‘PMHc-’). Compared to controls, however, ‘PMHc-’ clients experienced increased risks of suicide (HR=3.63, 1.42-9.26) and death due to mental & behavioural disorders (HR=7.85, 3.54- 17.43). Conclusion Among PMHc clients, a registered diagnosis at a local psychiatric service appears to be favourably associated with lower mortality due to natural death causes. The high risk of suicide among ‘PMHc-’ clients probably indicates a high prevalence of undiagnosed mental disorders among PMHc clients.

Introduction Mounting evidence suggests that immune dysfunction may play a crucial role in the pathophysiology of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In addition, several studies have reported that congenital and postnatal infections may contribute to the neurobiological basis of ASD. Aims/objectives This study aimed to investigate the relationship between infections during pregnancy and after birth, and ASD. Methods A case-control study design was adopted. Both cases and controls were retrieved from a historic birth cohort (HBC) maintained at Statens Serum Institute in Copenhagen/Denmark and were followed up retrospectively during pregnancy and after birth over four pre-defined periods. Study subjects were followed-up utilizing Danish nation-wide health registers for outpatient and hospital admissions due to infections. Associations between infections and ASD were analyzed using Mantel- Haenszel estimate of the odds ratio (OR) and logistic regression models. Results In total, 414 ASD cases and 820 controls were followed-up during pregnancy and a mean 16.3 years after birth. Crude, but not adjusted estimates showed that ASD cases had an increased risk of hospital admission due to infection at the end of the first year of life (OR = 1.48 [range: 1.07-2.05], P = 0.02) and at the end of the follow-up period (OR = 1.30 [range: 1.02-1.64], P = 0.03). Conclusion The present findings indicate that infections have a potential role in the pathophysiology of ASD; however, further studies are necessary to determine if infections etiologically contribute to ASD or if they act as an epiphenomenon due to distorted immunity in children with ASD.

ObjectiveSense of coherence (SOC) is a resource for health and quality of life (QoL) in adults. Aim of this investigation was to evaluate the association of SOC and QoL in adolescents with congenital heart defects (CHD).MethodObservational study among 770 adolescents aged 14 – 17 years from a national CHD register. SOC was measured at baseline with the SOC-L9 questionnaire. At baseline and at 12-months follow-up, QoL was measured with the KINDL-R questionnaire, evaluating overall well-being and six subscales. The association of SOC with QoL was evaluated in multi-level linear models separately for overall well-being and KINDL-R subscales. Initial models comprised SOC as only fixed effect while the final models were adjusted for age, gender, medical and socioeconomic status and behavioral factors.ResultsOverall well-being, self-esteem and school-related well-being was significantly higher at follow-up compared with baseline. SOC at baseline (median 50 [range: 16 – 63] points) was positively associated with overall well-being and all KINDL-R subscales. There were significant negative interactions between SOC at baseline and time to follow-up for overall well-being and all KINDL-R subscales except psychological well-being. But even in fully adjusted models associations of SOC at baseline with overall well-being and all KINDL-R subscales at follow-up remained significant.ConclusionSOC is an independent predictor of QoL in adolescents with CHD. Except for psychological well-being, this effect attenuates over one year but remains positive inoverall QoL and sub-dimensions. Further studies should evaluate whether interventions aimed to increase SOC in children with CHD improve QoL.