Search

IntroductionNon adherence to treatment is especially common in patients with chronic relapsing disorders. Schizoaffective disorder is a chronic, severe and disabling illness consisting of the concurrent presentation of symptoms of schizophrenia and affective disorders. Its course and prognosis has been found to be intermediate to those two conditions.ObjectivesTo evaluate treatment adherence in a schizoaffective sample and to which demographical and clinical variables it may be associated.MethodsAdherence to treatment and its clinical correlates were assessed in 69 patients meeting DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type, by means of adherence-focused interviews, measurements of plasma concentrations of mood stabilizers.Adherent and poorly adherent patients were compared with respect to several clinical and treatment variables.ResultsPoorly adherent patients were 40% of the total sample. Demographic variables (i.e.: gender, marital status, cultural level, employment) were not associated to treatment adherence, nor were clinical variables (age at onset, polarity of the first episode, lifetime history of seasonal pattern, rapid cycling, atypical depression, melancholia, catatonia) or family history for generic psychiatric, affective disorders and suicide. No pharmacological treatment (atypical antipsychotic, mood stabilizer and antidepressant) was associated to adherence in our sample.ConclusionsClinical and demographical factors are not related to medication adherence in our sample. Coherently with the general severity of this condition, and since there does not seem to be any clinical predictor of poor adherence, in clinical practice all schizoaffective patients should be monitored and treated as potentially non-adherent.

Background The study measured the accuracy of the Italian version of the Hypomania Checklist (HCL-32) for self-assessment as a screening instrument for bipolar disorder (BPD) in a psychiatric setting and compared results with a previous study, carried out in a comparable sample and in the same setting, using the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ).

The study measured the accuracy of the Italian version of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) as a screening instrument for bipolar disorders in a psychiatric setting. 154 consecutive subjects attending the Division of Psychiatry of the University of Cagliari (Italy), were screened for bipolar disorders using the Italian translation of the MDQ, and diagnostically interviewed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID) by physicians. On the basis of the SCID: 51 (33.1%) received a diagnosis of bipolar or schizoaffective bipolar type disorders, 63 (40.9%) were diagnosed as having at least one psychiatric disorder in Axis I (other than bipolar or schizoaffective bipolar type disorders), whilst 40 (25.9%) were unaffected by any type of psychiatric disorder. MDQ showed a good accuracy for bipolar or schizoaffective bipolar type disorders: the cut-off 4 had sensitivity 0.90 and specificity 0.58; the cut-off 5 had sensitivity 0.84 and specificity 0.70; and the cut-off 6 had sensitivity 0.76 and specificity 0.86. The accuracy for bipolar II disorders was sufficient but not excellent: the cut-off 4 had sensitivity 0.80 and specificity 0.45; the cut-off 5 had sensitivity 0.70 and specificity 0.55; and the cut-off 6 had sensitivity 0.55 and specificity 0.65. Our results seem to indicate a good accuracy of MDQ, and confirm the results of recent surveys conducted in the USA. Moreover the instrument needs to be validated in other settings (e.g. in general practice).

Objective To determine the prevalence of food addiction in a large Brazilian non-clinical sample. Sociodemographic and psychopathological correlates of food addiction as well as associations with quality (QoL) domains were also investigated. Methods This cross-sectional study obtained data from a Brazilian anonymous web-based research platform (N = 7639; 71.3% females). Participants provided sociodemographic data and completed the modified Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0, PHQ-9, hypomania checklist (HCL-32), Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence, AUDIT, modified Skin picking-Stanford questionnaire, Minnesota impulsive disorders interview, Symptom Checklist-90-Revised inventory (SCL-90R), early trauma inventory self report-short form, and the WHO Quality of Life instrument-Abbreviated version (WHOQOL-Bref). Associations were adjusted to potential confounders through multivariable models. Results The prevalence of food addiction was 4.32% (95%CI: 3.89–4.80%), and was more common among females. Food addiction was associated with a positive screen for a major depressive episode (OR = 4.41; 95%CI: 3.46–5.62), bipolar spectrum disorder (OR = 1.98; 95%CI: 1.43–2.75), and skin picking disorder (OR = 2.02; 95%CI: 1.31–3.09). Food addiction was also independently associated with exposure to early life psychological and sexual abuse (P = 0.008) as well as with reduced physical, psychological, social, and environment QoL (all P Conclusions Food addiction may be common in low and middle-income countries, though possibly less prevalent than in the US. Food addiction was associated with co-occurring mood disorders and skin picking disorder as well as with early life psychological and sexual abuse. Finally, food addiction was independently associated with broad reductions in QoL. Public health efforts towards the early recognition and management of food addiction are warranted.

Objectives This systematic review aimed at providing a critical, comprehensive synthesis of international guidelines' recommendations on the long-term treatment of bipolar disorder type I (BD-I). Methods MEDLINE/PubMed and EMBASE databases were searched from inception to January 15th, 2019 following PRISMA and PICAR rules. International guidelines providing recommendations for the long-term treatment of BD-I were included. A methodological quality assessment was conducted with the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation-AGREE II. Results The final selection yielded five international guidelines, with overall good quality. The evaluation of applicability was the weakest aspect across the guidelines. Differences in their updating strategies and the rating of the evidence, particularly for meta-analyses, randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and observational studies, could be responsible of some level of heterogeneity among recommendations. Nonetheless, the guidelines recommended lithium as the 'gold standard' in the long-term treatment of BD-I. Quetiapine was another possible first-line option as well as aripiprazole (for the prevention of mania). Long-term treatment should contemplate monotherapy, at least initially. Clinicians should check regularly for efficacy and side effects and if necessary, switch to first-line alternatives (i.e. Valproate), combine first-line compounds with different mechanisms of action or switch to second-line options or combinations. Conclusions The possibility to monitor improvements in long-term outcomes, namely relapse prevention and inter-episode subthreshold depressive symptoms, based on the application of their recommendations is an unmet need of clinical guidelines. In terms of evidence of clinical guidelines, there is a need for more efficacious treatment strategies for the prevention of bipolar depression.

Background Adjustment Disorder is a condition strongly tied to acute and chronic stress. Despite clinical suggestion of a large prevalence in the general population and the high frequency of its diagnosis in the clinical settings, there has been relatively little research reported and, consequently, very few hints about its treatments. Methods the authors gathered old and current information on the epidemiology, clinical features, comorbidity, treatment and outcome of adjustment disorder by a systematic review of essays published on PUBMED. Results After a first glance at its historical definition and its definition in the DSM and ICD systems, the problem of distinguishing AD from other mood and anxiety disorders, the difficulty in the definition of stress and the implied concept of 'vulnerability' are considered. Comorbidity of AD with other conditions, and outcome of AD are then analyzed. This review also highlights recent data about trends in the use of antidepressant drugs, evidence on their efficacy and the use of psychotherapies. Conclusion AD is a very common diagnosis in clinical practice, but we still lack data about its rightful clinical entity. This may be caused by a difficulty in facing, with a purely descriptive methods, a "pathogenic label", based on a stressful event, for which a subjective impact has to be considered. We lack efficacy surveys concerning treatment. The use of psychotropic drugs such as antidepressants, in AD with anxious or depressed mood is not properly supported and should be avoided, while the usefulness of psychotherapies is more solidly supported by clinical evidence. To better determine the correct course of therapy, randomized-controlled trials, even for the combined use of drugs and psychotherapies, are needed vitally, especially for the resistant forms of AD.