Higher levels of psychiatric symptomatology reported by health professionals working in medical settings in Greece

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Psychological distress in healthcare workers may vary across different specialties. The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in the rate of anxiety and depression between medical and mental healthcare workers.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The sample was randomly selected and consisted of 229 workers from the medical health sector and 212 from the mental health sector, aged 39.8 ± 7.9 years old. Health workers from University and General Hospitals from all over Greece participated in the study. The Greek version of the Symptoms Rating Scale For Depression and Anxiety (SRSDA) was used. Statistics were processed with SPSS v. 17.0.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The medical health professionals showed statistically significantly higher scores in all the subscales in comparison with the mental health sector workers, independently of years serving in the department. The rates of a possible psychiatric disorder (score over cutoff points) were significantly elevated on the Beck-21, melancholy and asthenia subscales.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Medical healthcare workers appear to suffer from psychological distress more than their colleagues in the mental sector.</p

Antidepressant Drugs for Chronic Urological Pelvic Pain: An Evidence-Based Review

The use of antidepressant drugs for the management of chronic pelvic pain has been supported in the past. This study aimed to evaluate the available evidence for the efficacy and acceptability of antidepressant drugs in the management of urological chronic pelvic pain. Studies were selected through a comprehensive literature search. We included all types of study designs due to the limited evidence. Studies were classified into levels of evidence according to their design. Ten studies were included with a total of 360 patients. Amitriptyline, sertraline, duloxetine, nortriptyline, and citalopram are the antidepressants that have been reported in the literature. Only four randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were identified (two for amitriptyline and two for sertraline) with mixed results. We conclude that the use of antidepressants for the management of chronic urological pelvic pain is not adequately supported by methodologically sound RCTs. From the existing studies amitriptyline may be effective in interstitial cystitis but publication bias should be considered as an alternative explanation. All drugs were generally well tolerated with no serious events reported

Socioeconomic inequalities in general and psychological health among adolescents: a cross-sectional study in senior high schools in Greece

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Socioeconomic health inequalities in adolescence are not consistently reported. This may be due to the measurement of self-reported general health, which probably fails to fully capture the psychological dimension of health, and the reliance on traditional socio-economic indicators, such as parental education or occupational status. The present study aimed at investigating this issue using simple questions to assess both the physical and psychological dimension of health and a broader set of socioeconomic indicators than previously used.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This was a cross-sectional survey of 5614 adolescents aged 16-18 years-old from 25 senior high schools in Greece. Self-reported general and psychological health were both measured by means of a simple Likert-type question. We assessed the following socio-economic variables: parents' education, parents' employment status, a subjective assessment of the financial difficulties experienced by the family and adolescents' own academic performance as a measure of the personal social position in the school setting.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>One out of ten (10%) and one out of three (32%) adolescents did not enjoy good general and psychological health respectively. For both health variables robust associations were found in adolescents who reported more financial difficulties in the family and had worse academic performance. The latter was associated with psychological health in a more linear way. Father's unemployment showed a non-significant trend for an association with worse psychological health in girls only.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Socioeconomic inequalities exist in this period of life but are more easily demonstrated with more subjective socioeconomic indicators, especially for the psychological dimension of health.</p

Adaptation of the Emotional Contagion Scale (ECS) and gender differences within the Greek cultural context

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The association between Type D personality and the metabolic syndrome: a cross-sectional study in a University-based outpatient lipid clinic

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Type D personality has been associated in the past with increased cardiovascular mortality among patients with established coronary heart disease. Very few studies have investigated the association of type D personality with traditional cardiovascular risk factors. In this study, we assessed the association between type D personality and the metabolic syndrome.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>New consecutive patients referred to an outpatient lipid clinic for evaluation of possible metabolic syndrome were eligible for inclusion in the study. The metabolic syndrome was defined according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) diagnostic criteria. Type D personality was assessed with the DS-14 scale. Multivariate regression techniques were used to investigate the association between personality and metabolic syndromes adjusting for a number of medical and psychiatric confounders. Three hundred and fifty-nine persons were screened of whom 206 met the diagnostic criteria for the metabolic syndrome ("cases") and 153 did not ("control group"). The prevalence of type D personality was significantly higher in the cases as compared to the control group (44% versus 15% respectively, p < 0.001). In multivariate logistic regression analysis the presence of Type D personality was significantly associated with metabolic syndrome independently of other clinical factors, anxiety and depressive symptoms (odds ratio 3.47; 95% Confidence Interval: 1.90 - 6.33).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Type D personality was independently associated with the metabolic syndrome in this cross-sectional study. The potential implications of this finding, especially from a clinical or preventive perspective, should be examined in future research.</p

Efficacy and acceptability of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors for the treatment of depression in Parkinson's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the most commonly prescribed antidepressants for the treatment of depression in patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD) but data on their efficacy are controversial.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to investigate the efficacy and acceptability of SSRIs in the treatment of depression in PD.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Ten studies were included. In the comparison between SSRIs and Placebo (n = 6 studies), the combined risk ratio (random effects) was 1.08 (95% confidence interval: 0.77 - 1.55, p = 0.67). In the comparison between SSRIs and Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCAs) (n = 3 studies) the combined risk ratio was 0.75 (0.39 - 1.42, p = 0.37). An acceptability analysis showed that SSRIs were generally well tolerated.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results suggest that there is insufficient evidence to reject the null hypothesis of no differences in efficacy between SSRIs and placebo in the treatment of depression in PD. Due to the limited number of studies and the small sample sizes a type II error (false negative) cannot be excluded. The comparison between SSRIs and TCAs is based on only three studies and further trials with more pragmatic design are needed.</p

The association between bullying and early stages of suicidal ideation in late adolescents in Greece

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Bullying in schools has been associated with suicidal ideation but the confounding effect of psychiatric morbidity has not always been taken into account. Our main aim was to test the association between bullying behavior and early stages of suicidal ideation in a sample of Greek adolescents and to examine whether this is independent of the presence of psychiatric morbidity, including sub-threshold symptoms.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>5614 pupils 16-18 years old and attending 25 senior high schools were screened in the first phase and a stratified random sample of 2431 were selected for a detailed interview at the second phase. Psychiatric morbidity and suicidal ideation were assessed with the revised Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS-R) while bullying was assessed with the revised Olweus bully/victim questionnaire.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Victims of bullying behavior were more likely to express suicidal ideation. This association was particularly strong for those who were bullied on a weekly basis and it was independent of the presence of psychiatric morbidity (Odds Ratio: 7.78; 95% Confidence Interval: 3.05 - 19.90). In contrast, being a perpetrator ("bullying others") was not associated with this type of ideation after adjustment. These findings were similar in both boys and girls, although the population impact of victimization in the prevalence of suicidal ideation was potentially higher for boys.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The strong cross-sectional association between frequent victimization and suicidal ideation in late adolescence offers an opportunity for identifying pupils in the school setting that are in a higher risk for exhibiting suicidal ideation.</p