Changes of Body Weight and Metabolic Syndrome in Psychiatric Inpatients / 대한정신약물학회지

OBJECTIVE: This study explored the development of metabolic syndrome, changes in body weight and metabolic syndrome parameters (waist circumference, serum glucose and lipids, blood pressure), and effects of psychotropic agents in psychiatric inpatients being treated with psychotropic agents. METHODS: In all, 146 patients who had been admitted to a psychiatric isolated ward for more than 1 month between August 2012 and May 2014 were included in this study. During hospitalization, levels of triglyceride, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and serum glucose, and blood pressure, height, body weight, and waist circumference were regularly measured. For obtaining data on laboratory tests, physical examination and demographic and clinical characteristics, we reviewed patients' medical records. RESULTS: After using psychotropic agents for 3 months, body mass index increased significantly and HDL levels decreased significantly. Of 119 patients without metabolic syndrome at baseline, 15 (12.61%) patients developed a this syndrome after 3 months. Among psychotropic agents, quetiapine most largely increased the number of patients who meet the criteria for metabolic syndrome (17.9%), and this change was significantly larger than that of aripiprazole (p=0.031). Carbamazepine significantly increased waist circumference. Duloxetine and lamotrigine significantly increased triglyceride levels. Olanzapine, aripiprazole, mirtazapine, duloxetine and valproic acid significantly decreased HDL levels. Futher, olanzapine and valproic acid significantly increased body mass index. Fluoxetine significantly decreased body mass index. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that at least 1 in 10 patients using psychotropic agents develop metabolic syndrome within a relatively short time; this finding emphasizes the importance of early diagnosis and treatment. Because abnormality of lipid parameters was prominent in early phase of treatment, clinicians should monitor these levels carefully. In addition, some psychotropic agents could affect body weight and metabolic syndrome parameters and thus clinicians should be aware of this changes in patients using psychotropic agents. Main limitation of this study is high drop-out rate (74%), and this could make the result underestimate.

Study on Standardization of Korean Version of Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire : The Optimal Cutoff Scores / 신경정신의학

OBJECTIVES: An exact diagnosis and comorbidity analysis are important in psychiatric disorders. The Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire (PDSQ) is both useful as a self-reporting test for screening psychiatric disorders and available for clinical settings due to its simplicity and convenience. This study, as a part of standardization of Korean version of Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire (K-PDSQ), evaluated optimal cutoff scores. METHODS: The samples were 696 patients in total, who were selected from the psychiatric departments of 3 university hospitals from March 2008 to August 2011. Diagnosing by Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview-Plus (MINI-Plus), we evaluated sensitivity, specificity, cutoff scores, ROC curve, and area under the curve (AUC) of K-PDSQ. SPSS version 12.0 for Windows and MedCalc version 12.0 were used to analyze the results. RESULTS: With a cutoff score of 9 for major depressive disorder in K-PDSQ, both the sensitivity and specificity were 80%. The cutoff scores of PTSD, OCD, panic disorder, agoraphobia, psychosis, alcohol related problem, GAD, hypochondriasis, and social phobia of K-PDSQ were 5, 2, 4, 2, 1, 2, 5, 4, and 5, respectively. In most of the subscales, each AUC was above 0.75. CONCLUSION: By applying the cutoff scores estimated above, we expect K-PDSQ to help provide diagnostic assessments and to grasp comorbidities before a clinical interview in the setting of busy outpatient clinics.

Suicidality in Major Depressive Disorder : The Impact of Psychiatric Comorbidity / 신경정신의학

OBJECTIVES: Generally, major depressive disorder (MDD) with psychiatric comorbidities is associated with a high suicide rate. However, this relationship has not been studied much in Korea. In this study, we evaluated the suicidality in MDD with psychiatric comorbidities. METHODS: This study was performed on patients who visited the psychiatric department of three university hospitals in the Gyeongbuk area from March 2008 to September 2011. In total, 776 patients were evaluated with the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview-Plus (MINI-Plus), and 288 with MDD were recruited for the study. Suicidality and suicidal risks were evaluated in the MINI-Plus questionnaire. RESULTS: MDD patients with comorbidities had a significantly higher suicidality and suicidal risk than patients with pure MDD. Suicidality was significantly higher in an anxiety disorder group with comorbidity than in the pure MDD group. As the total number of comorbidities got higher, the suicidality increased, and suicidal risks had significant differences depending on the total number of comorbidities. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that an MDD patient with comorbidities has a higher suicidality and suicidal risk. In clinical settings, comorbid MDD patients should be approached with more aggressive psychiatric intervention of their suicidal thoughts and actions.

Effect of Aromatherapy Massage for the Relief of Constipation in the Elderly / 간호학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to verify the effect of aromatherapy massage on constipation in the elderly. METHOD: This study for 10 day, employed a randomized control group pretest-posttest design. The experimental group received abdominal massage using essential oils with Rosemary, Lemon, and Peppermint, and the control group received a placebo massage. To evaluate the effect of aromatherapy, the degree of constipation was measured using the CAS(constipation assessment scale) and the number of bowel movements per week. Data was analyzed by repeated measures of ANOVA using the SPSS program. RESULT: The score of CAS of the experimental group was significantly lower than that of the control group. In addition the average number of bowel movements in the experimental group was higher than that of the control group. The effect of aromatherapy lasted 2 weeks after treatment, while the placebo effect lasted 7~10 days after treatment. CONCLUSION: The finding of this study showed that aromatherapy helps relieve constipation in the elderly.

Septooptic Dysplasia: A Case Report

Septooptic dysplasia is a rare anterior midline anomaly considered to be a mild form of lobar holoprosencephaly. We describe a case with unilateral optic nerve hypoplasia and the absence of a septum pellucidum.