Are commonly used self-report inventories suitable for screening postpartum depression and anxiety disorders?

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66459/1/j.1600-0447.2000.102001071.x.pd

Exploring the Quality of Life of People in North Eastern and Southern Thailand.

The assumption that development brings not only material prosperity but also a better overall quality of life lies at the heart of the development project. Against this, critics assert that development can undermine social cohesion and threaten cultural integrity. Rarely, however, is the impact of development on wellbeing rigourously analysed using empirical data. This is what the Wellbeing in Developing Countries Group at the University of Bath aims to do drawing on fieldwork carried out in four developing countries, which addresses the themes of resources, needs, agency and structure, and subjective Quality of life (QoL). The first phase of the QoL research in Thailand aimed to explore the categories and components of quality of life for people from different backgrounds and locations with the aim of developing methods for QoL assessment in the third phase of the WeD QoL research. The study presents data obtained from rural and peri-urban sites in Southern and Northeastern Thailand (two villages in Songkhla and three in Khon Kaen, Mukdaharn, and Roi-et). Participants were divided into six groups by gender and age, and were divided again by religion (Buddhist and Muslim) and wealth status in the South. Data collection was conducted between October and December 2004 using focus group discussions, semi-structured interviews, and the Person Generated Index. Content analysis was used for data analysis. The use of a qualitative approach enabled the gathering of empirical data that reflects the sources of difficulty and happiness in the lives of participants. Respondents identified 26 aspects to their quality of life, including family relations, health and longevity, income and having money, jobs, housing, education, debt, and so on. The results reveal clear similarities and differences in the role of traditions, religious beliefs, and values in the lives of people living in remote rural or peri-urban areas in Northeastern and Southern Thailand. These results, together with the findings from Peru, Ethiopia, and Bangladesh, will inform the rest of the WeD research and be used to develop measures to assess the quality of life of people living in developing countries

Is transcranial sonography useful to distinguish scans without evidence of dopaminergic deficit patients from Parkinson's disease?

BACKGROUND: Approximately 10% of patients clinically diagnosed with early Parkinson's disease (PD) subsequently have normal dopaminergic functional imaging. Transcranial sonography (TCS) has been shown to detect midbrain hyperechogenicity in approximately 90% of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and 10% of the healthy population. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of midbrain hyperechogenicity in patients with suspected parkinsonism and scans without evidence of dopaminergic deficit (SWEDD), in comparison to PD patients. METHODS: TCS was performed in 14 patients with SWEDD and 19 PD patients. RESULTS: There was a significantly increased area of echogenicity in the PD group (0.24 ± 0.06 cm(2) ), compared to the group of patients with SWEDD (0.13 ± 0.06 cm(2) ; P < 0.001). One (9.1%) of these patients, compared to 14 (82.5%) of the PD patients, was found to have hyperechogenicity (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that TCS is useful to distinguish PD patients from patients with suspected parkinsonism and SWEDD

The influence of age on the female/male ratio of treated incidence rates in depression

BACKGROUND: Poor data exist on the influence of psychosocial variables on the female/male ratio of depression because of the small number of cases and the resulting limited numbers of variables available for investigation. For this investigation a large number of first admitted depressed patients (N = 2599) was available which offered the unique opportunity to calculate age specific sex ratios for different marital and employment status categories. METHODS: Age and sex specific population based depression rates were calculated for first ever admissions for single year intervals. Moving averages with interpolated corrections for marginal values in the age distribution were employed. RESULTS: For the total group the female/male ratio of depression showed an inverted U-shape over the life-cycle. This pattern was influenced by the group of married persons, which showed a sex-ratio of 3:1 between the age of 30–50, but ratios of around 1:1 at younger and older ages. For not married persons the female/male ratio was already around 2:1 at the age of 18 and rose to 2.5:1 in mid-life and declined to 1 at around 55. The almost parallel decline of depression rates in employed men and women resulted in a female/male ratio of about 2:1 from age 18 to age 50 and became 1 after the age of 60. The female/male ratio among the not employed was about 1, in mid-life it became negative. CONCLUSIONS: Our analyses show that the gender-gap in first admitted depressed patients is age dependent and that psychosocial factors modify the sex ratio

Mental health care for irregular migrants in Europe: Barriers and how they are overcome

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

For whom does it work? Moderators of outcome on the effect of a transdiagnostic internet-based maintenance treatment after inpatient psychotherapy: Randomized controlled trial

Background: Recent studies provide evidence for the effectiveness of Internet-based maintenance treatments for mental disorders. However, it is still unclear which participants might or might not profit from this particular kind of treatment delivery. Objective: The study aimed to identify moderators of treatment outcome in a transdiagnostic Internet-based maintenance treatment (TIMT) offered to patients after inpatient psychotherapy for mental disorders in routine care. Methods: Using data from a randomized controlled trial (N=400) designed to test the effectiveness of TIMT, we performed secondary analyses to identify factors moderating the effects of TIMT (intervention) when compared with those of a treatment-as-usual control condition. TIMT involved an online self-management module, asynchronous patient-therapist communication, a peer support group, and online-based progress monitoring. Participants in the control condition had unstructured access to outpatient psychotherapy, standardized outpatient face-to-face continuation treatment, and psychotropic management. Self-reports of psychopathological symptoms and potential moderators were assessed at the start of inpatient treatment (T1), at discharge from inpatient treatment/start of TIMT (T2), and at 3-month (T3) and 12-month follow-up (T4). Results: Education level, positive outcome expectations, and diagnoses significantly moderated intervention versus control differences regarding changes in outcomes between T2 and T3. Only education level moderated change differences between T2 and T4. The effectiveness of the intervention (vs control) was more pronounced among participants with a low (vs high) education level (T2-T3: B=-0.32, SE 0.16, P=.049; T2-T4: B=-0.42, SE 0.21, P=.049), participants with high (vs low) positive outcome expectations (T2-T3: B=-0.12, SE 0.05, P=.02) and participants with anxiety disorder (vs mood disorder) (T2-T3: B=-0.43, SE 0.21, P=.04). Simple slope analyses revealed that despite some subgroups benefiting less from the intervention than others, all subgroups still benefited significantly. Conclusions: This transdiagnostic Internet-based maintenance treatment might be suitable for a wide range of participants differing in various clinical, motivational, and demographic characteristics. The treatment is especially effective for participants with low education levels. These findings may generalize to other Internet-based maintenance treatments. Trial Registration: International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN): 28632626; http://www.controlled-trials.com/isrctn/pf/ 28632626 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6IqZjTLrx). © David Daniel Ebert, Mario Gollwitzer, Heleen Riper, Pim Cuijpers, Harald Baumeister, Matthias Berking

Cerebellar learning distinguishes inflammatory neuropathy with and without tremor.

This study aims to investigate if patients with inflammatory neuropathies and tremor have evidence of dysfunction in the cerebellum and interactions in sensorimotor cortex compared to nontremulous patients and healthy controls

O impacto da psoríase na autoimagem e sua influência no trabalho

Psoriasis is a skin disease that affects the body in a systemic way of affected by it, may also affect the joints. Its impact goes beyond the skin, causing psychosocial damage and occupational arising from prejudice and social stigma. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of psoriasis on self-image and their influence on the work of the individuals affected. It is a qualitative study of the case study type with 7 patients in the Reference Center, Support and Treatment of Carriers of Paraiba State of psoriasis, installed at the Dermatology Clinic of the University Hospital Lauro Wanderley - HULW/UFPB - João Pessoa / PB. Data were collected through semi-structured interview, categorized and treated according to the Content Analysis. The results showed interference in the self-image of participants, mainly caused by situations involving prejudice, but there were few significant influences to the work of the respondents, only difficulties of functional performance in cases of arthropathic psoriasis. They also suggest that it is important to comprehensive care by multidisciplinary team and social support for individuals with psoriasis for good promotion of quality of life and are necessary awareness actions to society in order to reduce situations of prejudice and stigma.A psoríase é uma doença dermatológica que afeta de maneira sistêmica o organismo dos acometidos por ela, podendo afetar também as articulações. Seu impacto vai além da pele, ocasionando prejuízos psicossociais e ocupacionais, decorrentes do preconceito e estigma social. O presente trabalho objetivou avaliar o impacto da psoríase na autoimagem e sua influência no trabalho dos indivíduos acometidos. É um estudo qualitativo do tipo estudo de caso com 7 pacientes do Centro de Referência, Apoio e Tratamento aos Portadores da Psoríase do Estado da Paraíba, instalado no ambulatório de dermatologia do Hospital Universitário Lauro Wanderley – HULW/UFPB – João Pessoa/PB. Os dados foram coletados por meio de entrevista semiestruturada, categorizados e tratados de acordo com a Análise de Conteúdo. Os resultados indicaram interferência na autoimagem dos participantes, causadas principalmente por situações que envolvem preconceito, porém houveram poucas influências significativas em relação ao trabalho dos entrevistados, apenas dificuldades de desempenho funcional nos casos de psoríase artropática. Também sugerem que é importante a assistência integral por equipe multiprofissional e o apoio social para os indivíduos com psoríase para a boa promoção da qualidade de vida, bem como são necessárias ações de conscientização para a sociedade, a fim de reduzir situações de preconceito e estigma