[ prevalence of anxiety and depression disorders in the children of veterans of Shiraz, Iran: a case control study]

This survey was conducted in order to assess the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in children of the war-wounded veterans, and to compare it with the general population of Shiraz. The present study was a cross-sectional survey on a random sample of children and adolescents of 223 veteran's [25%-70%] families between 12-20 years old. The control group consisted of students of 12-20 years of age. Diagnosis was made using semi-structured clinical interviews on the basis of DSM-IV, through K-SADS-PL. Out of 223 veteran's families interviewed, 123 families had at least one child with one psychiatric disorder. Those children, 52 boys [15%] and 71 girls [20%], suffered from at least one of the psychiatric disorders. The prevalence of depressive disorders such as dysthymia was 2.3%, major depressive disorder 8.4%, and minor depression 5.8%. The prevalence of anxiety disorders including generalized anxiety disorder was [10.1%], separation anxiety disorder [1.4%] obsessive compulsive disorder [4%], panic disorder [3.2%], post traumatic stress disorder [3.2%], social phobia [4.3%] specific phobia [2%] and agoraphobia was [1.4%]. Although the prevalence of depressive and anxiety disorders did not significantly differ from that of control group, but more studies, and more consultative, preventive and therapeutic actions seem to be necessary for children of veterans, due to a higher prevalence of some of anxiety disorders such as generalized anxiety disorder and some depression symptoms

Dose-response relationship of clinical efficacy and side effects of electroconvulsive therapy

The electrical dose selected for electroconvul-sive therapy [ECT] must have an acceptable efficacy and no or minimal cognitive side-effects. We evaluated the clinical efficacy and cognitive side-effects of ECT in relation to the stimulus dose administered. This study assessed 71 depressed patients who were treated with bilateral ECT. For evaluation of depressive and cognitive states the mini-mental state examination [MMSE] and Hamilton scale for depression [HAM-D] were used before starting ECT and after the fourth and last sessions. The baseline mean MMSE was significantly [p=0.005] different with that evaluated after the fourth [p=0.005] and the final [p=0.002] sessions among the four groups receiving various doses of ECT. The mean Hamilton score did not change significantly over the study. No decrease in cognition was observed with employing higher doses [224-345.6 me] of ECT compared to lower doses. The rate of improvement did not change significantly among the studied groups. Cognitive function does not decreased with higher doses of ECT [224-345.6 me] as compared to the other groups. The rate of improvement does not differ with the stimulus dose administered

Assessing post partum blue in women referring to maternity Clinics in Shiraz, 1382

There is a high prevalence of psychiatric disorders in reproductive age group women, that increases in the third month of post partum, This study was attention to conducted to determine prevalence and relative factor of post partum blue. This study was an analytical cross-sectional with the aim of investigating the findings of post partum blue in postpartum women's referring to maternity clinics in Shiraz. The sampels entailed of 400 pregnant women in 2 weeks after postpartum who came to maternity clinics for postpartum evalution. The data were collected through two questionnaires; the first questionnaire entailed epidemiologic information [personal/Family/ economical and social status] and the second questionnaire entailed Edinbrough test with 10 multiple choice items to measure postpartum blue. Data was analysed by chi-squire test. The incidence of postpartum blue was 51.3. This problem was more prevalent in primipar and housewives. The relation between postpartum blue and familial factor [quality of spouse relationship] and mutual support between them, the same as between this disturbance and psychological factors such couple's problem, stress life event and psychological problem was positive [p<.005]. No relation between this problems and psychosocial problem was observed. According to the result of this study it seems necessery to have educational programs for couples to prevent psychiatric problems and to increase level of mental health in to our community

Comparison of latent inhibition mechanisms before and after drug therapy in patients with schizophrenia

This study was aimed to compare the latent inhibition mechanisms [LI] in patients at the acute phase of schizophrenia with the patients whose symptoms were controlled by antipsychotic medications. LI was evaluated using visual and auditory stimuli in three groups: The first group [n=30] included the patients at the acute psychotic phase that did not take any medication. The second group [n=35] were the patients whose symptoms were controlled by antipsychotic drugs. The third group [n=31] were normal controls with no history of schizophrenia. The error score in learning in the testing phase was regarded as a dependent variable. The error scores in schizophrenia patients [acute phase and stable patients] were significantly higher as compared to the control group. The expected effect of LI was not observed in stable schizophrenia patients. Our results did not show an association between LI and the phases of schizophrenia. It seems that patient's

Depression among parents of children with chronic and disabling disease

Background: the parent's awareness about chronic disabling disease in their children definitely distresses the parents. Children of such parents show behavior and cognitive disturbances with long term negative impact on the family

Objective: the present study was carried out to investigate the prevalence of depression in parents of disabled children

Methods: following a cross-sectional study, 50 parents of children with chronic disease as target group and 50 parents of children with an acute disease as control group were selected randomly, they were asked to take part in a structured interview and their depression's score was measured using the Beck Depression Inventory [BDI]. Data analysis was performed by Student's t test and ANOVA using SPSS software

Results: depression scores were higher in those who had a child with chronic disease than in the control group [P<0.001]. Depression scores were also higher in those who had a leukemic child than other non-leukemic chronic disease [P<0.002]. Lower socioeconomic [SES] and parents with lower education level also showed a higher level of depression

Conclusion: when comparing psychopathology in parents of children with chronic disease with that of children with an acute disease, significant differences were observed in depression level. This study emphasizes the necessity of active psychosocial intervention in those parents who have disabled children

Comorbidity of psychiatric disorders in Iranian treatment-seeking opioid addicts

Many studies from the West have documented the comorbidity of psychiatric disorders among patients with substance use disorder but, little has been published on this subject from Iran. To investigate the comorbidity of psychiatric disorders among substance use disorders in two central and southern provinces of Iran. Method: Psychiatric and substance use disorder comorbidity was assessed by means of the Research Version of Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders [SCID-I] during the admission process of 89 treatment-seeking opioid addicts. All psychiatric disorders comorbidity [excluding substance use disorder] during lifetime and current time frames were 78.7% and 74.8%, respectively. Mood disorder was found to be the most frequent, although most of this rate is accounted for by substance-induced mood disorder [57.3% of the subjects]. Psychiatric disorders comorbidity, especially substance-induced mood disorder, was common among the subjects, and Axis I psychiatric disorder does not seem to precede opioid dependency in the majority of opioid addicts seeking treatment

Suicide among psychiatric patients in Iran; a demographical, cross-cultural study

Files of 41 patients admitted to the psychiatric ward after serious suicide attempts [or ideations] were examined to uncover demographical variables associated with attempting to take one's own life. Age, sex, marital and occupational strata of successful suicide attempts are compared with the unsuccessful cases, and the findings are contrasted with reports from other countries. While there is a lot of overlapping in the findings for the two Iranian groups, cultural differences are observed too, suggesting the need for further research. Complications and difficulties inherent in investigations on suicide are discussed and recommendations for efficient preventive measures made