Reliability and clinical utility of a Portuguese version of the Abnormal Involuntary Movements Scale (AIMS) for tardive dyskinesia in Brazilian patients

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the reliability and clinical utility of a Portuguese version of the Abnormal Involuntary Movements Scale (AIMS). Videotaped interviews with 16 psychiatric inpatients treated with antipsychotic drugs for at least 5 years were evaluated. Reliability was assessed by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) between three raters, two with and one without clinical training in psychopathology. Clinical utility was assessed by the difference between the scores of patients with (N = 11) and without (N = 5) tardive dyskinesia (TD). Patients with TD exhibited a higher severity of global evaluation by the AIMS (sum of scores: 4.2 ± 0.9 vs 0.4 ± 0.2; score on item 8: 2.3 ± 0.3 vs 0.4 ± 0.2, TD vs controls). The ICC for the global evaluation was fair between the two skilled raters (0.58-0.62) and poor between these raters and the rater without clinical experience (0.05-0.29). Thus, we concluded that the Portuguese version of the AIMS shows an acceptable inter-rater reliability, but only between clinically skilled raters, and that it is clinically useful

Doença mental, mulheres e transformação social: um perfil evolutivo institucional de 1931 a 2000 Mental health, women and social change: a progressive institutional profile from 1931 to 2000

INTRODUÇÃO: No século XX, as mulheres vivenciaram inúmeras transformações e alcançaram uma participação mais ativa na sociedade.O estudo visa descrever o perfil da clientela feminina, admitida em um serviço de internação psiquiátrica com as transformações históricas, sociais e demográficas.Oferece um retrato comparativo das condições epidemológicas existentes no decorrer da série histórica e os aspectos do meio da condição sociocultural das mulheres do estado. MATERIAIS E MÉTODOS: Estudo epidemiológico descritivo, longitudinal, tipo série histórica de dados, baseado na coleta de dados efetuada no serviço de arquivo médico e de estatísticas de um hospital. Foram analisadas as seguintes variáveis: idade, estado civil, cor, setor profissional, ocupação, classe social e diagnóstico psiquiátrico, todos padronizados conforme os critérios da Classificação Internacional de Doenças, edições 9 e 10. Para identificação dos casos, utilizaram-se todas as primeiras internações de mulheres. RESULTADOS: No decorrer de 70 anos, obteve-se um total de 9.629 indivíduos/casos. Observou-se o predomínio de mulheres na faixa etária de 26 a 45 anos (47,9%), brancas (91,3%), pertencentes ao subproletariado (86,8%), fora da população economicamente ativa (96,7%) e com diagnóstico de transtornos afetivos (28,6%) e psicoses esquizofrênicas (25,2%). Quanto ao estado civil, verificou-se maior presença de mulheres casadas (44,9%). Todavia, na década de 90, as mulheres solteiras representaram 54,4%, enquanto que as casadas perfizeram 39,7% das pacientes. CONCLUSÃO: Foram detectadas mudanças significativas nos motivos para admissão de mulheres nos últimos anos. Sugere-se que as variações tenham sido influenciadas pelos determinantes biológicos das doenças mentais graves e, também de maneira significativa, pelas pressões sociais advindas do novo papel da mulher na sociedade.<br>INTRODUCTION: Along the 20th century, women underwent numerous changes and reached a more active participation in society. This study aims at describing the profile of the female patients admitted to a service of psychiatric hospitalization from May 1931 to December 2000. In addition, it relates the profile of psychiatric morbidity with the historical, social and demographic changes. It also offers a comparison between the epidemiological conditions throughout the historical series and the aspects regarding the environment and the sociocultural status of women from a Southern Brazilian state. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Descriptive, longitudinal, epidemiological study including historical data and based on data collected from the medical files and statistics of a hospital. The following variables were assessed: age, marital status, race, professional area, occupation, social class and psychiatric diagnosis, all standardized according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9 and ICD-10) criteria. To identify the cases, all first hospitalizations of women were used. RESULTS: Along 70 years, a total of 9,629 individuals/cases was obtained. There was a predominance of women in the age group between 26-45 years (47.9%), white (91.3%), belonging to the subproletariat (86.8%), not belonging to the economically active part of the population (96.7%) and with diagnosis of affective disorders (28.6%) and schizophrenic psychoses (25.2%). With regard to marital status, married women were prevalent (44.9%). However, in the 1990's, single women represented 54.4%, whereas married women accounted for 39.7% of the patients. CONCLUSION: Significant changes were detected in the reasons for admitting women to psychiatric services over the past years. It is suggested that the variations might have been influenced by biological determinants of severe mental diseases, and especially by the social pressure resulting from the new role of women in society

Dor crônica em pacientes esquizofrênicos: prevalência e características Chronic pain in schizophrenic patients: prevalence and characteristics

A prevalência de dor crônica entre pacientes com transtornos psiquiátricos é, possivelmente, no mínimo igual à encontrada entre a população geral. Para estimar a prevalência de dor crônica em pacientes com esquizofrenia, comparar os grupos com e sem dor crônica e caracterizar a dor foi realizado um estudo transversal, com uma amostra probabilística de 205 pacientes adultos, com diagnóstico de esquizofrenia (idade média 37 anos; 65% homens; média de escolaridade de nove anos; 87% sem companheiro(a); 65% residentes com os pais), atendidos em hospital público do Município de São Paulo, Brasil. A prevalência de dor foi de 36,6%; a dor foi mais presente no abdômen (30,7%), seguida da dor de cabeça, face e boca (24%) e região lombar, sacra e cóccix (14,7%). Com relação à freqüência, 24% dos entrevistados referiram ter dor todos os dias. O tempo médio de dor foi de 41 meses, com intensidade moderada. A prevalência de dor crônica em pacientes esquizofrênicos foi semelhante à encontrada para a população geral, e o quadro álgico foi significativo em termos de duração, intensidade e freqüência dos episódios dolorosos.<br>Chronic pain may be at least as prevalent in psychiatric patients as in the general population. To estimate the prevalence of chronic pain in schizophrenic patients, compare the groups with and without chronic pain, and characterize the pain, a cross-sectional study was performed on a probabilistic sample of 205 adult patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia (mean age 37 years; 65% men; mean schooling nine years; 87% single; 65% living with parents), treated at a public hospital in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Prevalence of pain was 36.6%, and the most frequent sites were abdomen (30.7%), head, face, and mouth (24%), and lower back (14.7%). Twenty-four percent of patients reported feeling pain every day. Mean duration of pain was 41 months, with moderate intensity. Prevalence of chronic pain in schizophrenic patients was similar to that in the general population, and the clinical course was significant in terms of duration, intensity, and frequency

Prevalence and genotypes of GB Virus C/Hepatitis G virus among blood donors in Central Brazil

A survey was conducted in a blood donor population of Central Brazil aiming to investigate the prevalence of GB virus C (GBV-C)/hepatitis G virus (HGV) infection and also to analyze the virus genotypes distribution. A total of 241 voluntary blood donors were interviewed at the State Blood Bank in Goiânia, State of Goiás, Brazil. Blood samples were collected and serum samples tested for GBV-C/HGV RNA by polymerase chain reaction. Genotypes were determined by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. Seventeen samples were GBV-C/HGV RNA-positive, resulting in a prevalence of 7.1% (95% CI: 4.2-11.1). A significant trend of GBV-C/HGV RNA positivity in relation to age was observed, with the highest prevalence in donors between 29-39 years old. Ten infected individuals were characterized by reporting parenteral (30%), sexual (18%), both (6%) and intrafamiliar (6%) transmission. However, 7 (40%) GBV-C/HGV RNA-positive donors did not mention any potential transmission route. RFLP analysis revealed the presence of genotypes 1 and 2 of GBV-C/HGV; more precisely, 10 (58.9%) samples were found belonging to the 2b subtype, 4 (23.5%) to the 2a subtype, and 3 (17.6%) to genotype 1. The present data indicate an intermediate endemicity of GBV-C/HGV infection among this blood donor population, and a predominant circulation of genotype 2 (subtype 2b) in Central Brazil