Prevalence of dental caries in hospitalized patients with schizophrenia

© 2016, Institut za Vojnomedicinske Naucne Informacije/Documentaciju. All rights reserved. Background/Aim. It is considered that over 450 million people worldwide suffer from some form of mental disorder. Previous studies in other countries have shown that schizophrenia is among the most frequent. Oral health is significant for general health and should not be separated from mental health. Studies in other countries have shown an increased incidence of carious and extracted teeth, and less incidence of filled teeth in this group of psychiatric patients. The aim of this study was to establish condition of the existing teeth, to determine the prevalence of caries and to consider possible risk factors that contribute to the current oral health status of hospitalized patients with schizophrenia. Methods. The study comprised 190 patients with schizophrenia, hospitalized at the Clinic for Psychiatric Disorders Dr. Laza Lazarević in Belgrade, and 190 mentally healthy patients at the Clinic for Periodontology and Oral Medicine, Faculty of Dental Medicine in Belgrade. The decayed, missing, filled (DMF) index, sociodemographic and economic characteristics were registered in both groups, as well as characteristics of the primary disease of hospitalized patients with schizophrenia. Results. The value of DMF index (representing the sum of carious, extracted and filled teeth), in the hospitalized patients with schizophrenia was 18.57 ± 7.07 and 12.47 ± 5.64 in the healthy group (p = 0.000). The structure of the DMF index in the study group showed that caries and extracted teeth dominated with 88.1%; in the control group, filled teeth dominated with 55.6%, which was a statistically significant difference for all the three observed variables. Conclusion. Hospitalized patients with schizophrenia had twice as many caries and extracted teeth, and five time less filled teeth than healthy people. The patient’s age and taking antiparkinsonics were established as predictors of the increased DMF index in hospitalized patients with schizophrenia

The prevalence and socioeconomic correlates of depressive and anxiety symptoms in a group of 1,940 Serbian university students

© 2016, Institut za Vojnomedicinske Naucne Informacije/Documentaciju. All rights reserved. Background/Aim. Mental health of university students is under increasing concern worldwide, because they face challenges which predisposes them to depression and anxiety. The aim of this study was to identify demographic and socioeconomic variables associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms among university students. Methods. This cross-sectional study on 1,940 university students was performed using a questionnaire including demographic and socioeconomic variables, Beck Depression Inventory and Beck Anxiety Inventory. Results. The prevalence of depressive symptoms in students was 23.6%, while the prevalence of anxiety symptoms was 33.5%. The depressive symptoms were significantly related to the study year (p = 0.002), type of faculty (p = 0.014), satisfaction with college major choice (p < 0.001), satisfaction with grade point average (p < 0.001). Female students (odds ratio – OR = 1.791, 95% confidence interval – CI = 1.351–2.374), older students (OR = 1.110, 95% CI = 1.051-1.172), students who reported low family economic situation (OR = 2.091, 95% CI = 1.383–3.162), not owning the room (OR = 1.512, 95% CI = 1.103–2.074), dissatisfaction with graduate education (OR = 1.537, 95% CI = 1.165–2.027) were more likely to show depressive symptoms. The anxiety symptoms were significantly related to study year (p = 0.034), type of faculty (p < 0.001), family economic situation (p = 0.011), college residence (p = 0.001) satisfaction with the college major choice (p = 0.001), and satisfaction with graduate education (p < 0.001). Female students (OR = 1.901, 95% CI = 1.490–2.425), and students who reported parents high expectations of academic success (OR = 1.290, 95% CI = 1.022–1.630) were more likely to show anxiety symptoms. Conclusion. This is one of the largest study examining mental disorders in a sample of university students in Serbia. These findings underscore the importance of early detections of mental problems and prevention interventions in university students

Positive impact of prescribed physical activity on symptoms of schizophrenia: Randomized clinical trial

© Medicinska naklada - Zagreb, Croatia. Background: The purpose of this study was to examine functional capacity of cardio-respiratory system in patients with schizophrenia, and to evaluate the effects of 12 weeks prescribed physical activity on aerobic capacity and symptoms of schizophrenia. Subjects and methods: Study involved 80 hospitalized patients with any of the subtypes of schizophrenia (42 men, 38 women). They were divided into two groups: exercise and control group, both with 40 patients. Maximal aerobic capacity (VO2 max) as an indicator of cardiovascular fitness has been obtained by cardiopulmonary stress test on a treadmill. Twelve weeks program of prescribed physical activity (45 minutes, four times per week) was made for every patient individually. Patients in exercise group practiced in training zone between 65 and 75% of their maximum heart rate (HR). Target HR was controlled by Polar F4 monitors. Symptoms of schizophrenia were measured by using Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS). Results: Before the exercise program was introduced, measured VO2 max was significantly lower in patients with schizophrenia, than the expected average value in matched healthy subjects (p<0.001). After twelve weeks, patients in exercise group showed a significant increase of VO2max (p=0.002), and significantly higher level of VO2max compared to the control group (p=0.000). Significant differences were also observed on PANSS general psychopathology subscale (p=0.007) and on PANSS total score (p=0.001). The pharmacotherapy and exercise had influence on PANSS general psychopathology (p=0.002) and PANSS total score (p=0.001). Conclusions: Individuals with schizophrenia have lower levels of aerobic capacity compared to general population. Prescribed physical activity significantly improves aerobic capacity in people with schizophrenia and it is effective in amelioration of some psychiatric symptoms. Prescribed physical activity could be an effective adjunctive treatment for patients with schizophrenia, not only for prevention and treatment of comorbidities, but also having an impact on symptoms of schizophrenia

Development of an international schedule for the assessment and staging of care for dementia

© 2015 - IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved. Background: A reliable and valid global staging scale has been lacking within dementia care. Objective: To develop an easy-to-use multi-dimensional clinical staging schedule for dementia. Methods: The schedule was developed through: i) Two series of focus groups (40 and 48 participants, respectively) in Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and UK with a multi-disciplinary group of professionals working within dementia care, to assess the need for a dementia-staging tool and to obtain suggestions on its design and characteristics; ii) A pilot-study over three rounds to test inter-rater reliability of the newly developed schedule using written case histories, with five members of the project's steering committee and 27 of their colleagues from Netherlands, France, and Spain as participants; and iii) A field-study to test the schedule's inter-rater reliability in clinical practice in France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Turkey, South Korea, Romania, and Serbia, which included 209 dementia patients and 217 of their caregivers as participants. Results: Focus group participants indicated a clear need for a culture-fair international dementia staging scale and reached consensus on face validity and content validity. Accordingly, the schedule has been composed of seven dimensions including behavioral, cognitive, physical, functional, social, and care aspects. Overall, the schedule showed adequate face validity, content validity, and inter-rater reliability; in the nine field-sites, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs; absolute agreement) for individual dimensions ranged between 0.38 and 1.0, with 84.4% of ICCs over 0.7. ICCs for total sum scores ranged between 0.89 and 0.99 in the nine field-sites. Conclusion: The IDEAL schedule looks promising as tool for the clinical and social management of people with dementia globally, though further reliability and validity testing is needed