ABSTRACT
Five years after the military operation "Anfal" in Iraqi Kurdistan, 45 families were randomly selected among the survivors in two displacement camps. The Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms for Children (PTSS-C) and the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ) were administered to the oldest child and the caregiver in each family, respectively. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was reported in 87% of children and 60% of their caregivers. While childhood PTSD was only significantly predicted by child trauma score and the duration of captivity, it was neither predicted by maternal PTSD nor did it disappear after the reunion with the PTSD-free father. However, the small sample size makes the results hypotheses rather than conclusive.
Subject(s)
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/psychology , Warfare , Adolescent , Child , Female , Humans , Incidence , Iraq , Male , Parent-Child Relations , Prognosis , Severity of Illness Index , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/epidemiology , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
The Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms in Children (PTSS-C) was developed as a cross-cultural semi-structured interview to diagnose posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and to identify PTSD-non-related posttraumatic stress symptoms in children after various traumatic experiences. The psychometric properties were studied in two different child populations in Iraqi Kurdistan (the survivors of the military operation "Anfal", and the orphans), in a sample of Kurdistanian refugee children in Sweden, and in a comparison sample of Swedish children. The instrument yielded satisfactory internal consistency, high interrater agreement, and excellent validity on cross-validation with the Child Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index (CPTSD-RI) and the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents (DICA) according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV).
Subject(s)
Child Behavior/psychology , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/diagnosis , Warfare , Adolescent , Child , Child Behavior/ethnology , Cultural Characteristics , Female , Humans , Iraq , Male , Psychometrics , Reproducibility of Results , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/ethnology , Surveys and Questionnaires , SwedenABSTRACT
We investigated the effect of nimodipine (30 mg qid) in 16 de novo patients with essential tremor in a double-blind placebo-controlled study in which we assessed tremor by clinical scorings, tremorgraphic recordings, and patient self-evaluation. Of the 15 patients who completed the study, eight improved. We conclude that nimodipine is effective in some patients with essential tremor.
Subject(s)
Nimodipine/therapeutic use , Tremor/drug therapy , Adult , Aged , Double-Blind Method , Electromyography , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Nimodipine/adverse effects , Tremor/physiopathologyABSTRACT
A prospective field study was carried out during an epidemic of non-A non-B hepatitis for determining the incidence and severity of hepatitis in pregnant women, nonpregnant women of child bearing age and men (15 to 45 years old). In 36 (17.3 percent) of 208 pregnant women viral hepatitis developed, as compared to 71 (2.1 percent) of 3,350 nonpregnant women and 107 (2.8 percent) of 3,822 men. The incidence of disease in pregnant women was higher than in the two control groups. The incidence of viral hepatitis in the first, second and third trimesters was 8.8 percent, 19.4 percent, and 18.6 percent, respectively. The incidence in all three trimesters was higher, when compared to that in nonpregnant women. In eight pregnant women (22.2 percent) with viral hepatitis, fulminant hepatic failure developed, as compared to its occurrence in three men (2.8 percent) and in no nonpregnant women. This significantly increased incidence of fulminant hepatitis in pregnancy was indicative of a greater severity of hepatitis during pregnancy. Increased susceptibility to fulminant hepatitis was observed exclusively in the last trimester. Nonfulminant viral hepatitis did not influence the course of pregnancy or fetal well-being. Fetal loss in fatal fulminant hepatitis was a consequence of maternal death and could not be ascribed to direct effect on the fetus or pregnancy.
