Is Lethality Different between Males and Females? Clinical and Gender Differences in Inpatient Suicide Attempters.

According to the gender paradox in suicidology, an important sex difference has been reported with a preponderance of females in nonfatal suicidal behavior and a preponderance of males in completed suicide. Furthermore, females and males present different risk factors for suicide. The present study explored possible clinical differences between male and female psychiatric inpatients who had recently attempted suicide. The study included 177 adult inpatients hospitalized following a suicide attempt at the University Psychiatric Clinic, Sant'Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome. Clinical features assessed included psychiatric diagnosis, method and lethality of suicide attempts using the Risk/Rescue Rating Scale, the history of suicide attempts, age at onset of psychiatric illness, the presence of substance or alcohol use, and the length of stay. The results found that males and females differed in the method used for the suicide attempt, the scores for risk and rescue, and the length of hospitalization post-suicide attempt. In conclusion, identifying gender characteristics of patients at higher risk of suicide is important for implementing specific suicide prevention strategies and reducing the risk of future suicidal behavior in psychiatric inpatients.

Motor and non-motor symptoms in blepharospasm: clinical and pathophysiological implications.

INTRODUCTION: Patients with blepharospasm in addition to involuntary contraction of the orbicularis oculi muscle also have non-motor symptoms (psychiatric, sleep, cognitive, and ocular). In this paper, we investigated the relationship of non-motor with motor symptoms and the total burden of non-motor symptoms in patients with blepharospasm. Results were compared with those of age- and sex-matched healthy controls. METHODS: We enrolled 60 patients with blepharospasm and 40 age-matched healthy controls. In all patients, the severity of blepharospasm was assessed clinically with the Blepharospasm Severity Rating Scale. All the participants underwent a psychiatric, sleep, cognitive, and ocular symptom evaluation. We investigated the correlations between motor, non-motor symptoms, and patients' clinical and demographic features. RESULTS: The frequency of psychiatric, sleep, and cognitive disorders and ocular symptoms was higher in blepharospasm patients than in healthy controls. Non-motor symptoms coexisted in the majority of patients and there was no correlation between non-motor and motor symptoms. The total burden of non-motor symptoms did not associate with motor symptoms and demographic features in blepharospasm. CONCLUSIONS: Non-motor symptoms are independent of motor features and likely belong to the clinical spectrum of blepharospasm. The presence of non-motor symptoms possibly reflects a complex network disorder of blepharospasm.