A Negative Association between Social Support and Depression in the Elderly Population of Amirkola City.

Introduction: Depression is one of the most common psychiatric disorders in old age. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between social support and depression in elderly population of Amirkola city, northern Iran. Also, a few studies have been conducted to determine whether there is any association between social support and depression in different cultural settings, e.g. in western countries. Methodology: This cross sectional study came from the Amirkola Health and Ageing Project (AHAP), that was undertaken among 1612 older people aged 60 years and over (881 males and 731 females) in Amirkola. The sampling method was done using the census records. Depression was assessed via the shortened 15 item version of Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and social support measured by the shortened 11 item version of the Duke Social Support Index (DSSI). Results: The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 43.4%. The mean social support score in the subjects without depressive symptoms was 28.32±2.79 which has been significantly higher than those with depressive symptoms 25.86±3.44. Linear regression analysis displays the variables in the final model like social support, age, gender, education, living status; social support was negatively the most associated variable with depression (β for social satisfaction= -0.245, P<0.001 and for social interaction 0 -0.199 P<0.001). Thus for the males, those who are younger, those who are more educated, those who are married and those who are employed, their social support scores were higher. Conclusions: Lack of social support is negatively associated with depression in the elderly people in Iran.

Comparison of Psychological Factors in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.

Introduction: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) are two common diseases of lower gastrointestinal symptoms and discomfort. Although research has demonstrated the influence of psychological processes on gastrointestinal functions, few studies compared the role of psychological factors in IBS and IBD disease. The present study aimed to assess the psychological factors in patients suffering from IBS and IBD. Methodology: This current cross-sectional study was done on 90 subjects with diagnosed IBD (15women, 15 men), IBS (15 women, 15 men), and 30 non-IBS/non-IBD in the Gastroenterology Department of Babol University of Medical Sciences. All subjects filled out three questionnaires; Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory-II (ROCI-II), Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R), and 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Results: The IBS and IBD patients had higher scores in unconstructive management conflict (dominating and avoiding) ways than the controls, but did not differ from each other. Although both the IBS and IBD patients had higher alexithymia scores than control subjects, IBS patients were more alexithymic than IBD patients. Significantly, higher scores were found in patients with IBS compared to IBD for some psychiatric symptoms (depression 17.2±11.3 vs 10.7±6.8, anxiety 12.7±8.2 vs 7.5±4.5, and the total score of psychiatric symptoms 115.4±62.6 vs 83.3±44.8). Conclusion: Although both the IBS and IBD patients experienced more psychiatric symptoms, unconstructive conflict management styles, and alexithymia than controls, IBS patients had worse psychiatric and alexithymic symptoms than IBD.

The role of psychiatric symptoms, alexithymia, and maladaptive defenses in patients with functional dyspepsia.

Background: Functional dyspepsia (FD) is a condition commonly seen in gastroenterological practice. The pathophysiology of FD is likely to be multi-factorial and remains incompletely understood. Although evidence for a psychological etiology is growing, few researches have investigated the role of psychological factors in FD disease. The aim of the study was to assess the role of alexithymia, psychiatric symptoms, and defense mechanism in patients with FD. Materials and Methods: In a case-control study, 60 consecutive with established FD referred to gastroenterology and 60 healthy people matched regarding demographic variables were selected. The subjects filled out three questionnaires; Symptom Checklist-90-Revised 40-item Defense Style and 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Statistical Analysis: Student's t-test and multivariate analysis variance model were used to compare the two groups. Results: Significantly higher scores were found in patients with dyspepsia when compared with controls for most psychiatric symptoms (depression P < 0.001, anxiety P < 0.001, obsessive-compulsion P < 0.001, interpersonal sensitivity P < 0.001, psychoticism P < 0.001, hostility P < 0.001, and total score of psychiatric symptoms P < 0.001). Alexithymia symptoms (both (difficulty in identifying feelings and difficulty in describing feelings) was higher in FD patients than healthy individuals ( P < 0.001). Also, the use of maladaptive defense mechanisms (both neurotic and immature) in FD patients significantly was higher than healthy individuals ( P < 0.001). Conclusion: Psychiatric symptoms, alexithymia, and maladaptive defense play significant role in the emergence of FD symptoms. This study proposes that FD patients should be evaluated and treated by departments of gastroenterology and psychiatry.