Effect of an education program on improving knowledge of schizophrenia among parents of junior and senior high school students in Japan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Early detection and intervention in schizophrenia are important in improving quality of life after treatment and are major issues in psychiatric care. Therefore, it is necessary to increase knowledge of schizophrenia among the general public. Among parents of junior and senior high school students in Japan, we compared rates of correct answers for items on knowledge of schizophrenia and ability to discriminate this psychosis from other disorders on questionnaires given before and after viewing a web-based education program.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Questionnaires were distributed to 2,690 parents. The program was developed to help parents obtain a basic understanding of schizophrenia and to emphasize the necessity of early detection.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Before the program, the rate of correct answers was 77% for items concerning basic knowledge of schizophrenia, 47% for "discrimination of schizophrenia symptoms," and 30% for "discrimination of prodromal symptoms." The program resulted in an improvement in basic knowledge of schizophrenia, discrimination of schizophrenia symptoms, and discrimination of prodromal symptoms (<it>P </it>< 0.001 for all).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our web-based education program was useful in helping parents acquire a basic knowledge of schizophrenia and discriminate correctly the symptoms of schizophrenia.</p

Editorial Board

Source at http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12888-017-1345-8 Background: The duration of untreated psychosis is determined by both patient and service related factors. Few studies have considered the geographical accessibility of services in relation to treatment delay in early psychosis. To address this, we investigated whether treatment delay is co-determined by straight-line distance to hospital based specialist services in a mainly rural mental health context. Methods: A naturalistic cross-sectional study was conducted among a sample of recent onset psychosis patients in northern Norway (n = 62). Data on patient and service related determinants were analysed. Results: Half of the cohort had a treatment delay longer than 4.5 months. In a binary logistic regression model, straight-line distance was found to make an independent contribution to delay in which we controlled for other known risk factors. Conclusions: The determinants of treatment delay are complex. This study adds to previous studies on treatment delay by showing that the spatial location of services also makes an independent contribution. In addition, it may be that insidious onset is a more important factor in treatment delay in remote areas, as the logistical implications of specialist referral are much greater than for urban dwellers. The threshold for making a diagnosis in a remote location may therefore be higher. Strategies to reduce the duration of untreated psychosis in rural areas would benefit from improving appropriate referral by crisis services, and the detection of insidious onset of psychosis in community based specialist services

Pleiotropy of Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3 Inhibition by CHIR99021 Promotes Self-Renewal of Embryonic Stem Cells from Refractory Mouse Strains

Background: Inhibition of glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) improves the efficiency of embryonic stem (ES) cell derivation from various strains of mice and rats, as well as dramatically promotes ES cell self-renewal potential. b-catenin has been reported to be involved in the maintenance of self-renewal of ES cells through TCF dependent and independent pathway. But the intrinsic difference between ES cell lines from different species and strains has not been characterized. Here, we dissect the mechanism of GSK-3 inhibition by CHIR99021 in mouse ES cells from refractory mouse strains. Methodology/Principal Findings: We found that CHIR99021, a GSK-3 specific inhibitor, promotes self-renewal of ES cells from recalcitrant C57BL/6 (B6) and BALB/c mouse strains through stabilization of b-catenin and c-Myc protein levels. Stabilized b-catenin promoted ES self-renewal through two mechanisms. First, b-catenin translocated into the nucleus to maintain stem cell pluripotency in a lymphoid-enhancing factor/T-cell factor–independent manner. Second, b-catenin binds plasma membrane-localized E-cadherin, which ensures a compact, spherical morphology, a hallmark of ES cells. Further, elevated c-Myc protein levels did not contribute significantly to CH-mediated ES cell self-renewal. Instead, the role of c-Myc is dependent on its transformation activity and can be replaced by N-Myc but not L-Myc. b-catenin and c-Myc have similar effects on ES cells derived from both B6 and BALB/c mice. Conclusions/Significance: Our data demonstrated that GSK-3 inhibition by CH promotes self-renewal of mouse ES cell

Influenza vaccination for immunocompromised patients: summary of a systematic review and meta-analysis

Vaccination of immunocompromised patients is recommended in many national guidelines to protect against severe or complicated influenza infection. However, due to uncertainties over the evidence base, implementation is frequently patchy and dependent on individual clinical discretion. We conducted a systematic review and meta‐analysis to assess the evidence for influenza vaccination in this patient group. Healthcare databases and grey literature were searched and screened for eligibility. Data extraction and assessments of risk of bias were undertaken in duplicate, and results were synthesised narratively and using meta‐analysis where possible. Our data show that whilst the serological response following vaccination of immunocompromised patients is less vigorous than in healthy controls, clinical protection is still meaningful, with only mild variation in adverse events between aetiological groups. Although we encountered significant clinical and statistical heterogeneity in many of our meta‐analyses, we advocate that immunocompromised patients should be targeted for influenza vaccination