Filiz Karadag

Psychiatric morbidity among cancer patients and awareness of illness

A significant proportion of cancer patients experience psychiatric morbidity. Potential predictors of psychiatric morbidity include patient disease-related factors and factors relating to the patient’s environment. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity and the relationship between the clinical or personal factors, especially psychiatric morbidity, and awareness of cancer diagnosis among a group of Turkish cancer patients. A total of 117 cancer patients were assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID), the Hospital and Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Of these patients, 30% had a psychiatric diagnosis. Adjustment disorders comprised most of the psychiatric diagnoses. Awareness of the diagnosis of cancer, history of previous psychiatric disorders, pain and stress factors were correlated with psychiatric morbidity. Of the 117 patients, 64 (54.7%) were unaware of the diagnosis of cancer. Most of the patients (67.9%) who were considered to be aware of the cancer diagnosis stated that they had guessed their illness from the treatment process or drug adverse effects. Psychiatric morbidity was significantly higher in the patients who knew that they had a cancer diagnosis (P=0.03). These findings suggest that the awareness of cancer diagnosis is related to the presence of psychiatric morbidity. In particular, the understanding of the diagnosis indirectly may be stressful to the patient because it arouses suspicion about the cancer and treatment, and consequently can lead to psychiatric disturbance. In Turkey honest disclosure of the true diagnosis is still not common for cancer patients and it seems to be essential to improve this situation.

Schizophrenia with obsessive-compulsive disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder with poor insight: A neuropsychological comparison

Schizophrenia patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may be a subgroup of schizophrenia, and OCD patients with poor insight may show psychotic-like symptoms. The aim of this work is to compare the neuropsychological performance of those patients with schizophrenic patients who do not have OCD symptoms and with OCD patients who have good insight. The sample consisted of 89 patients (16 OCD-schizophrenic patients, 30 non-OCD schizophrenic patients, 30 OCD patients with good insight, 13 OCD patients with poor insight). Neuropsychological evaluation included executive functions, verbal and visual memory and attention tasks. While schizophrenic patients with OCD did not differ from the non-OCD schizophrenia and OCD with poor insight groups on long-term visual and verbal memory performance, they showed poorer performance than the OCD group on long-term visual and verbal memory tests. Considering executive function, the OCD group with poor insight performed significantly worse than their counterparts with good insight, and the latter group performed better than the schizophrenia patients. The results of this study suggest that the neuropsychological performance of schizophrenia patients with OCD did not differ from that of non-OCD schizophrenic patients, and that OCD patients with poor insight were more likely to share similar cognitive characteristics with the schizophrenia groups. Our results also provide neuropsychological support for the hypothesis that OCD and schizophrenia may be a spectrum disorders.

QUANTITATIVE EEG ANALYSIS IN OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER

Quantitative analysis of the EEG (q-EEG) in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) showed a decreased beta and an increased theta power at frontotemporal regions. The patients who had higher scores in doubting test (Maudsley Obsessive Compulsive Questionnaire) and more severely ill patients shared similar q-EEG features. The relative theta powers were significantly increased and alpha powers were significantly decreased in these patients, particularly in the frontotemporal region. It was suggested that the q-EEG may be useful in investigating the OCD patients with heterogeneous characteristics.

The association of olanzapine-induced weight gain with peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ2 Pro12Ala polymorphism in patients with schizophrenia.

Olanzapine is a second-generation antipsychotic that may cause weight gain and metabolic syndrome in some cases. The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-gamma is an important gene in the progress of type II diabetes and metabolic syndrome. In recent studies the polymorphism of the PPAR-gamma has been studied in type II diabetes mellitus, polycystic ovary syndrome, and insulin resistance syndrome. It is aimed to evaluate the association between polymorphism of PPAR-gamma gene and olanzapine-induced weight gain. Our study comprised 95 unrelated subjects who strictly met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV) criteria for schizophrenia, and all were of Turkish origin. All patients were evaluated with rating scales, and genetic analyses were performed. We found statistically significant differences between pretreatment and posttreatment body mass index and weight change in Pro12Ala polymorphism of PPAR-gamma2. Our results suggest that genetic polymorphism of PPAR might be important in olanzapine-induced weight gain and that genetic variance of people might be considered in antipsychotic medication selection.

Characteristics of Suicidal Behavior in a Turkish Sample

BACKGROUND Suicidal behavior is one of the most important problems in psychiatric clinics. Several sociodemographic and clinical characteristics may have different effects on suicidal behavior. AIMS To examine the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of a sample of 144 suicide attempters admitted to a Turkish emergency clinic for a suicide attempt. METHODS All subjects were interviewed by a consultant psychiatrist. For all individuals, data on DSM-IV psychiatric diagnoses, sociodemographic data, Becks Hopelessness Scale (BHS), Beckss Suicidal Ideation Scale (SIS), and Becks Suicidal Intention Scale (BSIS) were collected. RESULTS The majority of suicide attempters were females characterized by low educational status and low religious orientation. Drug overdose was the most common method of suicide attempt and conflict within the family was the most frequent psychological stress factor. Three-quarters of attempters (74.6%) met DSM-IV criteria for at least one psychiatric diagnosis. Of these, 28.5% met criteria for major depressive disorder. Suicide attempters with depression tended to be immigrant, urban dwellers with high scores on the suicide intent scale. CONCLUSIONS In the present study, the findings are useful in showing the risk factors related to suicidal behavior.

Neurological soft signs in obsessive compulsive disorder with good and poor insight.

OBJECTIVE Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a clinically heterogeneous disorder; OCD with poor insight has been suggested to be a specific clinical subtype. Neurological soft signs (NSSs) may be helpful to identify the specific subtypes of OCD patients. METHODS In the present study, we aimed to compare OCD patients with poor insight with OCD patients having good insight, and healthy individuals. Sixty-four OCD patients (38 with good insight and 26 with poor insight), and 32 healthy subjects were enrolled in the present study. The Overvalued Ideas Scale (OVIS) was used to determine OCD patients with poor insight. NSSs were assessed by using the Neurological Evaluation Scale (NES). RESULTS Two OCD groups had significantly higher total NES scores compared to controls (p=.000). Compared to healthy controls, OCD patients with poor insight performed significantly worse on all NES subscales, and they had significantly more NSSs on motor coordination, and sensory integration subscales compared to the OCD with good insight group. CONCLUSION Our results suggested that OCD patients with poor insight exhibit more extensive neurodevelopmental impairments compared to OCD patients with good insight.

Neurological soft signs in schizophrenia and obsessive compulsive disorder spectrum.

Obsessive compulsive symptoms are more frequent in patients with schizophrenia compared to normal population. Patients with obsessive compulsive disorder may also exhibit psychosis-like symptoms. Based on these findings, it has been suggested that there is a spectrum of disorders between OCD and schizophrenia. We compared two OCD groups (with good and poor insight) and two schizophrenia groups (with and without OCD) in this recommended spectrum especially in terms of neurological soft signs (NSSs) associated with sensory integration. The schizophrenia with OCD (schizo-obsessive) group exhibited worse performance than the schizophrenia group (p=0.002) in only graphesthesia tasks. Moreover, schizo-obsessive patients exhibited worse performance compared to OCD patients in terms of graphesthesia (p=0.001) and audiovisual integration (p=0.001). Interestingly, OCD patients with poor insight tended to exhibit graphesthesia deficit in a similar manner to schizo-obsessive patients rather than OCD patients. According to our results, graphesthesia disorder is strongly associated both with OCD and schizophrenia. This suggests that neurodevelopmental disorders that lead to graphesthesia disorder overlap in comorbid OCD and schizophrenia patients.

Situation awareness in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Past studies have suggested that OCD patients suffer memory impairment on tasks using complex stimuli that require memory for combined elements to be maintained, but not for more simplistic memory tests. We tested this with 42 OCD patients and 42 healthy controls performed a computerized situation awareness task. In addition, participants completed the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) and Maudsley Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (MOCI). The OCD patients had poorer accuracy in integration/comprehension and perception levels than controls. There were significant correlations between situational awareness scores (i.e., visuo-spatial monitoring and processing) and Y-BOCS obsession-compulsion and slowness and doubt scores of MOCI in OCD patients. In addition, there were also significant correlations between situational awareness and controlling, cleaning, slowness, rumination and total scores of MOCI in control group. Results indicated that (I) OCD patients have problems of perception, integration, and comprehension of complex visual perceptions; (II) situation awareness deficits associated with severity and prevalence of obsessions and compulsions.

Cognitive functions in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder

BACKGROUND Recent studies have focused on the nature of cognitive dysfunction in bipolar patients. The purpose of the current study was to investigate cognitive performance of individuals with bipolar disorder compared to healthy control subjects during a well-established euthymic period. METHODS The sample consisted of 27 bipolar euthymic patients and 21 control subjects. Verbal and visual memory performance, attention, executive functions and psychosocial functions were evaluated for each participant. RESULTS Bipolar patients showed significant attentional deficit and executive dysfunction and also poor performance on verbal and visual memory tasks compared to the controls. Illness duration and lifetime total episode number and previous episode with psychotic features was associated with worsened performance on attention, executive and memory tasks. Psychosocial functioning was not associated with cognitive deficit. CONCLUSIONS The present study showed persistent cognitive impairment on inhibitory control and selective attention as well as poor performance on verbal and visual memory tests in a group of bipolar euthymic patients. The impaired neuropsychological performance was associated with duration of illness, total number of episodes per lifetime, and previous episodes with psychotic features. Attentional dysfunction seemed to be a trait abnormality for the sample studied.

Manic episode following deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus for Parkinson's disease: a case report.

AIM Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is an established therapy for patients with Parkinsons disease (PD) associated with motor complications of long term L-dopa treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS Here we report two cases with DBS- induced manic episode, focusing on the functional and anatomic correlates of psychiatric adverse effects of STN stimulation. RESULTS We present two cases of PD with motor complications due to long term L-dopa treatment that developed their first episodes of mania with psychotic symptoms after bilateral STN-DBS implantation. DBS-induced psychiatric adverse effects may be attributable either to limbic connections and STN-specific oscillations or stimulation of the medial forebrain bundle.