Arata Oiji

Clinical Evaluation of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder by Objective Quantitative Measures

This study assessed the diagnostic potential of the actigraph, the Continuous Performance Test, and the Matching Familiar Figures Test in diagnosing attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Twenty boys previously diagnosed with ADHD and 52 controls were examined. By these measures the boys with ADHD were differentiated from the controls with sensitivity and specificity above 75%. We were able to classify ADHD into eight subtypes by combining the scores of the actigraph and the CPT: “hyperactive-impulsive”, “hyperactive-inattentive”, “impulsive-inattentive”, “hyperactive”, “impulsive”, “inattentive”, “mixed”, and “unspecified” type. These classifications may be useful in diagnosing ADHD.

Correlation of regional cerebral blood flow with performance on neuropsychological tests in schizophrenic patients

Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was determined by the 133Xe inhalation technique (Headtome II: ring detection SPECT) in 53 DSM-III schizophrenic patients. The rCBF values were corrected by using end-tidal carbon dioxide concentration values (PECO2). After rCBF measurement, neuropsychological tests--Word Fluency Test, Maze Test and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test--were performed. There were significant correlations between frontal rCBF and scores on each neuropsychological test. In particular, a moderate correlations between the frontal rCBF and the performance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test was noted. It seems likely that decrease of rCBF in prefrontal regions at rest reflects a disturbance of frontal lobe function in schizophrenic patients.

Prevalence and Background Factors of Maternity Blues

To explore factors contributing to maternity blues, a longitudinal study was carried out on a group of 111 women who received obstetric care at Yamagata University Hospital from November 1994 to August 1995. Cases of maternity blues were found using Stein’s Self-Rating Maternity Blues Scale. Mother–child relationships in the women’s childhood were assessed using the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI). Of the 111 women, 17 (15.3%) developed maternity blues during the first postpartum month. The PBI revealed that these depressed women appeared to be cared for less sufficiently in their own childhood than the non-depressed women. As revealed in interviews, they also seemed to receive less support from their families during pregnancy. These findings suggest that maternity blues may be related to insufficient maternal care in childhood, as well as to poor family support during pregnancy.

An epidemiological study of eating disorders in a northern area of Japan

Nadaoka T, Oiji A, Takahashi S, Morioka Y, Kashiwakura M, Totsuka S. An epidemiological study of eating disorders in a northern area of Japan.

Stress Vulnerability and Climacteric Symptoms: Life Events, Coping Behavior, and Severity of Symptoms

To explore a possible association between climacteric symptoms and ways of coping with stress, a comparative study was conducted among 19 menopausal women who sought treatment for climacteric symptoms (the study group) and 44 healthy menopausal women (the control group). Life stress was assessed using a life event method in which factor analysis extracted four ways that women cope with stress: avoidance-oriented coping, consultation-oriented coping, aggression-expression coping, and problem-solving coping. The study group had a higher symptom score and was more prone to avoidance-oriented coping than the control group despite experiencing the same number of undesirable life events. The severity of climacteric symptoms correlated positively with the number of undesirable life events and the degree of avoidance-oriented coping and correlated negatively with the degree of aggression- expression coping for the study group. These results suggest that vulnerability to stress contributes to worsening climacteric symptoms caused by stress.

Stress and psychiatric disorders in local government officials in Japan, in relation to their employment level

In order to explore an association between psychiatric disorders and employment level, 283 local government officials in Japan were asked to complete a questionnaire consisting of a series of psychometric scales. The Daily Hassles Scale, General Health Questionnaire and Burnout Scale were used to measure stress, psychiatric disorders and burnout syndrome, respectively. As a result of canonical correlation analysis, the first canonical correlation indicated that the higher the level of stress under poorer support systems, the greater the likelihood of burnout syndrome. The second canonical correlation indicated that the stronger the support system, the smaller the tendency toward depression. Officials in higher levels of employment were supported less and were more severely depressed than officials at lower levels of employment.

Eye movements in patients with schizophrenia : visual stimuli, semantic content and psychiatric symptoms

In order to explore a possible association between psychiatric symptoms and eye movements, 32 patients with schizophrenia were examined using an eye mark recorder in combination with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, and were compared with 32 controls. Four types of figures were presented to the subjects: geometrical figures, drawings, story drawings, and sentences. Mean eye fixation time was significantly longer and mean eye scanning length was significantly shorter for the patients than for controls, not only in response to the geometric figures, but also in response to the story drawings. Eye fixation time and scanning velocity were positively correlated with degrees of thought disturbance. The number of eye fixations, eye fixation time and scanning velocity were negatively correlated with degree of depressive tendency.

Prevalence of Mood Disorders According to DSM-III-R Criteria in the Community Elderly Residents in Japan

The prevalence rates of mood disorders according to the DSM- III -R criteria in the community elderly were investigated with structured interviews conducted by psychiatrists. The subjects were 1,965 randomly selected residents aged 65 years or more who lived in Nagai City, Japan. In the first phase, a questionnaire including the short form of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) was distributed to all subjects. In the second phase, all persons scoring 6 points or more on the GDS and approximately half as many of these persons randomly selected from the remaining respondents scoring 5 points or less were examined by psychiatrists using the A and D modules of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R. The 1-month prevalence rates of major depression and bipolar disorder were estimated to be 0.9% and 0.0%, and the current prevalence of dysthymia was estimated to be 0.5%. By using additional unstructured clinical interviews, we also found the prevalence rates of adjustment disorder with depressed mood and other types of depression to be 3.8% and 2.5%. For these categories of depression, prevalence rates did not differ significantly by sex or age group, except that the prevalence of adjustment disorder with depressed mood was significantly higher in women than in men.