A Critical Comprehensive Review of Religiosity and Anxiety Disorders in Adults

Over the past three decades, there has been increasing research with respect to the relation of religion and mental health disorders. Consequently, the current article aims to first provide a comprehensive literature review of the interplay between different domains of religiosity and a wide variety of categorical anxiety disorders in adults, and secondly, to uncover the major methodological flaws often yielding mixed, contradictory and unreliable results. The search was conducted using the PubMed/Medline database and included papers published between 1970 and 2012, under a rigorous set of inclusion/exclusion criteria. A total of ten publications were retained as part of the current study, and three main outcomes were identified: (1) certain aspects of religiosity and specific religious interventions have mostly had a protective impact on generalized anxiety disorder (40 % of the studies); (2) other domains of religiosity demonstrated no association with post-traumatic stress disorder (30 % of the studies); and (3) mixed results were seen for panic and phobic disorders

Late‐onset and nonlate‐onset schizophrenia: A comparison of clinical characteristics in a multicenter study

International audienc

Late-onset and nonlate-onset schizophrenia: A comparison of clinical characteristics in a multicenter study

International audienceObjectives Data are scarce regarding the potential clinical differences between non-late onset schizophrenia (NLOS, i.e., disorder occurring before 40 years of age), late-onset schizophrenia (LOS, occurring between ages 40 and 60 years) and very-late-onset schizophrenia-like psychosis (VLOSLP, occurring after 60 years of age). Furthermore, previous research compared LOS patients with non-age matched NLOS patients. In this study, we sought to examine potential clinical differences between patients of similar age with LOS and NLOS. Methods/Design This is a cross-sectional multicentre study that recruited in- and outpatients older adults (aged >= 55 years) with an ICD-10 diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder with NLOS and LOS. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, comorbidity, psychotropic medications, quality of life, functioning, and mental health care utilization were drawn for comparison. Results Two hundred seventy-two participants (79.8%) had NLOS, 61 (17.9%) LOS, and 8 (2.3%) VLOSLP. LOS was significantly and independently associated with greater severity of emotional withdrawal and lower severity of depression (all p < 0.05). However, the magnitude of these associations was modest, with significant adjusted odds ratios ranging from 0.71 to 1.24, and there were no significant between-group differences in other characteristics. Conclusion In an age-matched multicenter sample of elderly patients with schizophrenia, older adults with LOS were largely similar to older adults with NLOS in terms of clinical characteristics. The few differences observed may be at least partially related to symptom fluctuation with time. Implications of these findings for pharmacological and nonpharmacological management is yet to be determined