Serhat Çıtak

The Effect of Synthetic Cannabinoids on P-Wave Dispersion: An Observational Study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of synthetic cannabinoids (SC) on P-wave dispersion (PD) in patients who consume SC. Materials and Methods: The study population included 72 patients who consumed SC and 36 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. The severity of addiction was detected using the addiction profile index (BAPI). The PD was measured by 12-lead ECG obtained upon admission to hospital. Statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS v20.0 statistical software package. Results: The mean age of the patients and controls was 26.9 ± 7.0 and 26.3 ± 6.5 years, respectively. Mean duration of SC consumption was 1.7 ± 0.7 years. Mean BAPI score of patients who consumed SC was 12.8 ± 3.4. Patients who consumed SC had a significantly higher PD value than controls (37.7 ± 11.5 vs. 30.6 ± 6.4 ms, p < 0.001). The BAPI score was significantly correlated with PD value (r = 0.675, p < 0.001). In the linear regression model that included PD value, age and heart rate, PD value was significantly and independently correlated with BAPI score (r2 of the model = 0.339; p < 0.001). Conclusions: In this study, patients who consumed SC had significantly higher PD values than controls, and the BAPI score correlated with the PD value. Hence SC consumption could lead to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease through prolonged PD. We recommend the use of the simple and inexpensive ECG to assess cardiovascular risk in patients who consume SC.

Sociodemographic characteristics of Turkish patients who violated a supervised probation program

ABSTRACT We aimed to investigate sociodemographic characteristics of individuals under a supervised probation program used in Turkey and to compare characteristics of noncompliant versus no-need-to-treat individuals in order to determine the effect of sociodemographic characteristics on success of the supervised probation program. In total, 4,006 individuals who submitted to the supervised probation program of our hospital were evaluated retrospectively from patient data and follow-up records. The mean age of patients was 28.4 ± 8.0 years. We compared the sociodemographic characteristics of “no-need-to-treat” patients (n = 2,205) and “noncompliant” patients (n = 391). We found differences between sociodemographic characteristics of no need to treat and noncompliant groups. We conclude that age, education, presence of self-mutilation, starting age of smoking or substance use, and family history are important factors affecting treatment compliance and success. Therefore, more detailed programs for noncompliant patients should be developed to increase treatment performance.

An outpatient clinical study of dissociative disorder not otherwise specified

The relatively high prevalence of the diagnosis of dissociative disorder not otherwise specified is frequently considered to be disproportionate. The disproportionate rate of this diagnosis is thought to be related to nosologic and/or diagnostic issues in dissociative identity disorder. We sought to investigate and compare the symptom patterns of these two clinical entities. We conducted a cross-sectional study involving 1314 participants who were screened with the Dissociative Experience Scale (DES) and the Somatoform Dissociation Questionnaire (SDQ). Of the participants, 272 who scored above the cut-off points for the screening questionnaires (DES score>30 and/or SDQ score>40 points) were invited to complete a structured interview using the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule (DDIS); of this subsample, only 190 participants agreed to participate in the second phase of the study. The mean score for the DES was 18.55±17.23, and the mean score for the SDQ was 30.19±13.32. Of the 190 participants, 167 patients were diagnosed as having a dissociative disorder (87.8%). We found that DD-NOS was the most prevalent category of dissociative disorder. There was a significantly larger percentage of patients in the DID group than in the DD-NOS group according to secondary features of DID and Schneiderian symptoms. The secondary features of DID and Schneiderian symptoms appeared to be more specific for DID, while no differences were detected between DID and DD-NOS based on most of the items on the SCL 90R. Further longitudinal studies are needed to determine the features that are similar and dissimilar between DD-NOS and DID.