Mustafa Sercan

The relationship of cognitive impairment with neurological and psychiatric variables in multiple sclerosis patients

Abstract Objective. Cognitive impairment (CI) in multiple sclerosis (MS) can develop any time. CI is associated with the degree of neuronal loss, but disease duration, fatigue, comorbid affective disorder, and drug dose may also affect cognition. Our aim was to assess which cognitive domain was disturbed primarily in mild MS patients and to see whether CI was related with clinical and psychiatric features. Method. Neurological and psychiatric evaluation of 31 MS patients and 31 age, sex, and education-matched healthy controls were made with Structured Clinical Interview for Axis I Disorders (SCID-I). Depression, anxiety, functionality, fatigue, and disability scoring were determined with Hamilton Depression-Anxiety scales, Global Assessment of Functionality, Fatigue Severity and Expanded Disability Status Scales. Cognitive functions were assessed using Mini Mental, Serial Digit Learning, Verbal and Nonverbal Cancellation, Stroop and Rey Auditory Verbal Learning tests. Results. Retrieval from long-term memory and psychomotor speed were significantly worse in MS group. CI was correlated with disease duration, number of attacks, and physical disability but not with depression and anxiety severity. Disease duration predicted disturbances in recall and psychomotor speed, whereas fatigue and disability predicted depression. Conclusion. Psychomotor speed and memory were primarily impaired in MS patients, and CI was closely associated with clinical aspects of MS rather than with depression and anxiety.

Comparison of First Episode and Recurrent Major Depression Patients in Terms of Cognitive Function

Comparison of first episode and recurrent major depression patients in terms of cognitive function Objective: Cognitive impairment is one of the most important causes of disability in depression. There are conflicting results about the nature of cognitive impairment with some studies finding a difference between first episode (FE) and recurrent depression (RD) and a correlation between cognitive impairment and depression severity while others do not. Our aim was to compare cognitive function in FE and RD patients and to see if cognitive impairment is correlated with depression severity and number of depressive episodes. Method: Unmedicated 33 FE and 37 RD outpatients with no additional Axis I disorder or physical disorder likely to affect cognition were included into the study and cognitive function was evaluated with verbal memory, verbal fluency, Stroop, Benton facial recognition and Boston naming tests. Results: There were no cognitive differences between FE and RD groups or between RD patients with more or less than 3 depressive episodes. But severely depressed patients had lower naming and immediate memory scores. Depression severity was positively correlated with Stroop color word reading time and negatively correlated with verbal memory learning score. Perseveration scores were positively correlated with total depressive episode duration. Discussion: Depression severity seems to be more effective on cognitive function than the number of depressive episodes. Results indicate that simple attention, encoding, learning, naming and mental speed is affected negatively from depression severity and cognitive flexibility was negatively affected by total

Levels of the Staff's Exposure to Violence at Locked Psychiatric Clinics: A Comparison by Occupational Groups

This study explored the rates of exposure to violence among physicians, nurses, and other health care staff members working at the locked psychiatric clinics, to examine the quantity and types of violence exposed, and to compare occupational groups by the level of exposure to violence. In parallel with the existing literature, the present study supports the proposition that physicians and nurses working at psychiatric units represent a risky group in terms of exposure to violence. The survey found that 87.6% of staff members viewed security measures insufficient. It is considered by the authors that preventive actions should be taken to reduce the risk of exposure to violence against the staff members working at the locked psychiatric clinics.

Does Internal Migration Affect Criminal Behavior in Schizophrenia Patients

Does internal migration affect criminal behavior in schizophrenia patients? Objective: In our research, we aimed to attract attention whether internal migration has an effect on criminal behavior of schizophrenic patients. Method: Schizophrenic (according to DSM-IV) patients (66 from the general psychiatry units and 69 from forensic psychiatry clinics) participated in the research from a regional hospital in the northwest of Turkey. Forensic psychiatric patients are divided into two subgroups, namely those who migrated (n=30) within the country and not (n=39), with those who are repetitive offenders (n=29) and not (n=40); then groups were compared in the point of parameters of crime and migration. Results: Most of the patients who have not committed a crime were from cities. Even though there was no significant difference, with those who have committed a crime, the age of internal migration was younger. Migration raised the possibility of the recidivism of the criminal acts up to 5 fold whereas, having already been prisoned before raised this possibility up to 17 fold and childhood within the criminal group. Conclusions: Although our data indicated the internal migration not to affect the rate of the criminal acts among the patients with schizophrenia meaningfully, it significantly affected repetition of crime within the criminal group. The need to focus on internal migration and urbanization as disruptive environmental conditions effecting schizophrenia and crime in countries like Turkey where the urbanization process is still ongoing, is obvious.

Is Headache only Headache? Comorbidity of Headaches and Mental Disorders

Objective: To determine the psychiatric disorders comorbid with headaches and the characteristics of these disorders. Method: Patients who admitted to the neurology outpatient clinic with a main complaint of headache (n=71), and the same number of age and sex matched patients (n=71) who admitted to the psychiatry outpatient clinic and had a non-psychotic diagnose in axis I were included into the study. Socio-demographic data and information about their headaches were obtained from all patients. The Visual Analog Scale and MINI-scan form were obtained and psychiatric diagnoses were made after the assessment by MINI. Results: There was not any difference between headache and psychiatric patients group in terms of socio-demographic data. Headache history was found higher in the families of headache group than the psychiatric patients group. High prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity was found in patients with headache (80.3%). All of the patients with tension-type headache (TTH) fulfilled the criteria for diagnosing a pain disorder by MINI, and also the high prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity (63.4%) was still taking place after excluding the pain disorder. The most frequent diagnose of psychiatric comorbidity was found as depressive disorders (64.8%) which is compatible with the literature. Discussion: The high prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity with headache is remarkable. More common family history of headache in headache patients than the other group suggests that there is a tendency to have headache independent from a psychiatric disorder in these patients. High comorbidity rate in the presence of psychosocial stressors suggests that there is a continuum among psychiatric comorbidity, headache and psychosocial stressors. Among the psychiatric comorbidity, depressive disorders predominate. On the other hand, the higher frequency of psychiatric comorbidity in patients with TTH is remarkable. It is observed that the uncertainty between the diagnostic criteria of pain disorder in DSM-IV and diagnostic criteria of TTH (Tension Type Headache) in ICHD (International Classification of Headache Disorders) causes some problems both in diagnosing and treatment of patients and also in researches.

Psikiyatrik Hastalarda Saldırganlık ve Saldırgan Hastaya Yaklaşım / Assaultiveness in Psychiatric Patients and Approach to Assaultive Patients

Assaults by psychiatric patients are serious occupational exposures for mental health professionals. These assaults may result in injuries, transient or persistent disabilities, severe psychological stress including posttraumatic stress disorder, and death, and cause clinical and economic burden. This issue attracts scant attention when considering its importance. Because these assaults are considered by victims as a part of their jobs and are not verbalized, they do not take legal actions. It has been shown that 5-48% of psychiatrists are subjected to violence by patients and patients’ relatives, and 40-50% of residents are physically violated during their 4-year residency training. Other healthcare personnel are also emotionally, verbally and physically violated by patients, patients’ relatives and visitors. It is of importance to provide security for staff members who are at high-risk for these assaults and continuous training on these issues should be provided for employees. In this article, the causes of assaults by patients and approaches to assaultive patients (pharmacological treatment and other precautions) are reviewed.

P02-21 - Physical comorbidity in hospitalized patients in a university affliated mental hospital in Bolu-Turkey

Objective Severe mental disorders as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia often co-occur with chronic medical illnesses, especially cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Our aim was to estimate the prevalence of physical health problems in hospitalized patients and to determine the sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with physical comorbidity. Method The medical records of all inpatients followed up between September 2007 and September 2009 were reviewed retrospectively. Results 144 patients were evaluted of which 59 (%41) had schizophrenia, 31(%21.5) had bipolar disorder and 54 (%37.5) had other disorders. 43 (%29.9) patients had at least one medical illness, hypertension being the most common (%30) followed by thyroid disorders (%16) and diabetes mellitus (%11). Diabetes Mellitus was detected only in bipolar patients (p=0.005). Females were affected more than males regarding physical comorbidity (p=0.009). Patients with physical comorbidity were older (42.9 vs 35.54 yrs) and had a longer duration of illness (16.2 vs 10.0 yrs). Their hemoglobin levels were lower, blood glucose, urea, thyroid stimulating hormone levels were higher than the patients with no physical illness and the differences were all statistically significant (p=0.05). There was no difference regarding length of hospital stay, drug compliance, previous neuroleptic use, family history for medical and mental illness. Conclusions: Although it is generally accepted that many physical conditions have been associated with serious mental disorders, the exact nature of the relationship between them is still unclear. Further research is required to identify medical comorbidity risk factors in order to improve the physical health of these patients.