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Background/aim: Depression is an alcoholism relapse risk factor, but frequently stays underdiagnosed among treated alcoholics. The correlation and characteristics of self-reported and clinically assessed depression in the course of early alcohol abstinence were explored., Methods: A total of 100 inpatient, primary male alcoholics (20-60 years) diagnosed according to Classificaton of Mental and Behavioural Disorders (ICD-10) and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) were recruited consecutively. The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were scored on admission (Tl), after 4 weeks (T2) and after 8 weeks (T3). Student's t-test, repeated measures ANOVA and Pearson's correlation between the scores were done (p <0.05). Factor analyses of symptoms were performed., Results: On HDRS Tl, T2, T3 90,7%, 39.5%, 17.4% alcoholics were depressive, respectively. The mean HDRS vs BDI scores on T1, T2 and T3 were 15.16 ± 6.34, 7.35 ± 4.18, 4.23 ± 2.93 vs 14.20 ± 9.56, 8.14 ± 7.35, 5.30 ± 4.94, respectively. Depression severity significantly lowered in the course of abstinence (ANOVA). The HRDS and BDI correlations on Tl, T2 and T3 were significant (r1 = 0.763, r2 = 0.684, r3 = 0.613 respectively). Dysphoric mood, anxious, vegetative and cognitive HDRS subscales on Tl, T2 and T3 were detected, but not BDI factors, thus BDI symptoms were analysed., Conclusions: The majority of alcoholics had depression on admission. A predominant mild-degree with a significant lowering of depression severity and positive significant correlations between HRDS and BDI scores in the course of abstinence were detected. The dysphoric mood on the HDRS subscale, and self-blame, anhedonia and guilt BDI symtoms were most prominent and persisted. The BDI could be a useful tool not only for routine screening and reassessment of depression, but also for exploring emotional content during early abstinence and planning tailored integrative therapy and relapse prevention for alcoholics.

Background/aim: [corrected] The relationship between alcoholism and depression is observed in clinical trials. The factors which could predict persistence of secondary depression after alcohol withdrawal are not enough explored on admission. The differencies between depressed (DA) and non-depressed (NDA) alcoholics regarding the degrees of severity of withdrawal, severity of depression and the intensity of cognitive disfunctions were explored on admission to investigate possibility of prediction of the development of secondary depression in alcoholics., Methods: A group of primary male alcoholics (n = 86) was recruited during inpatient treatment. After 4 weeks alcoholics were divided in the DA group (n = 43) and NDA (n = 43) group according to the score on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D). Clinical assessment of withdrawal, scoring on the Alcohol Dependency Severity Scale-ASD, and scoring on the Mini Mental Scale-MMSE were performed in all the participants on admission. The differences between the groups were tested by the Student's t-test., Results: The DA group showed the significantly higher severity of depression, higher levels of alcohol withdrawal symptoms and cognitive disfunctions than the NDA group on admission., Conclusion: The specific group of depressive alcoholics was shown to be characterized by the higher severity of alcoholism and depression on admission, which could predict prolonged, secondary depression. Early detection and concurrent therapy of secundary depression could improve the treatment, and reduce the relapse of alcoholism.

Background/Aim. The co-occurrence of depression and tobacco smoking among treated alcoholics is frequent, but understudied. Some findings suggest that there are some shared etiological factors, but a few clinical researches of personality dimensions among patients with these comorbidities were done. The personality dimensions, the pattern of cigarette use and depression and correlation of personality and depression among inpatient alcoholics were explored. Methods. One hundred primary male inpatient alcoholics were consecutively recruited. The eighty-six of them completed study and were compared with 30 age-matched, healthy male subjects. A semi-structured clinical interview related to sociodemographics, the pattern of cigarette and alcohol use and family history data was applied. According to cut-off on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), the alcoholics were divided into depressive and non-depressive subgroups resulting in half of alcoholics in each subgroup. The Eysenck personality questionnaire (EPQ) was completed. Student's t-test for differences and Pearson's test for correlation were used. Results. There were no significant sociodemographic differences between groups. Alcoholics were more frequent smokers (86% vs. 50%). They did not start drinking earlier, but they started smoking earlier, with higher daily cigarettes use than controls. On average, alcoholics had mild depression after detoxification. The personality dimensions did not show differences between groups, except neuroticism. The neuroticism showed significantly higher level among alcoholics vs. controls (12.72 ± 5.19 vs. 5.00 ± 3.36 respectively) and among depressive vs. non-depressive alcoholics (15.07 ± 4.89 vs. 10.37 ± 4.40 respectively). The depression correlated only with neuroticism (r = 0.487, p < 0.001). Conclusions. The majority of detoxified alcoholics were smokers who started smoking earlier, with mild depression and higher neuroticism compared to controls. Our results suggest that the alcoholics with high neuroticism may experience higher depression and may require more intensive integrative treatment.