ABSTRACT
The present study examines the effect of concomitant major depressive or bipolar disorder on clinical symptoms of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Forty-nine patients classified as OCD without a mood disorder, 26 classified as OCD with bipolar disorder (OCD-BD) and 42 classified as OCD with major depressive disorder (OCD-MDD) according to DSM-IV diagnostic criteria were included in the study. The groups were compared with respect to demographic variables and scores obtained on various scales. The OCD-BD group had more symmetry/exactness obsessions and ordering/arranging compulsions, and a more episodic course of illness and had better insight compared to the other two groups. Levels of anxiety, depression, disability and obsessive-compulsive symptom severity were significantly higher in the OCDMDD group. The rate of social phobia was higher in OCD-BD patients, whereas the rates of generalized anxiety disorder and simple phobias were higher in OCDMDD group. These findings suggest that comorbidity of major depressive disorder may increase the severity of OCD symptoms. On the other hand, bipolar disorder comorbidity may constitute a subgroup which is characterized by a higher rate of episodic course and better insight.
Subject(s)
Mood Disorders/epidemiology , Mood Disorders/physiopathology , Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder/epidemiology , Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder/physiopathology , Adult , Comorbidity , Female , Humans , MaleABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate audiovestibular function in patients with panic disorder and healthy subjects by using vestibular and audiologic tests. METHODS: Thirty-four panic disorder patients and 20 healthy control subjects were assessed by using clinical otoneurological examination, pure tone audiometry, tympanometry, and electronystagmography (ENG). All patients were evaluated with the Panic and Agoraphobia Scale (PAS), the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS), the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). RESULTS: On vestibular testing, abnormal responses were more prevalent in panic disorder patients compared to healthy controls. The presence of agoraphobia in panic disorder patients did not make a significant difference on vestibular test results. The only variable that may be a predictor of vestibular abnormalities in panic disorder patients was found to be dizziness between attacks. CONCLUSION: The results show that dizziness between panic attacks may warrant audiovestibular testing among other medical investigations.
Subject(s)
Audiometry, Pure-Tone , Panic Disorder/diagnosis , Vestibular Function Tests , Vestibule, Labyrinth/physiopathology , Acoustic Impedance Tests , Adult , Agoraphobia/diagnosis , Agoraphobia/epidemiology , Anxiety Disorders/diagnosis , Anxiety Disorders/epidemiology , Comorbidity , Depressive Disorder/diagnosis , Depressive Disorder/epidemiology , Dizziness/diagnosis , Dizziness/epidemiology , Electronystagmography , Female , Humans , Male , Panic Disorder/epidemiology , Panic Disorder/physiopathology , Personality Inventory , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Severity of Illness IndexABSTRACT
Auditory N2 and P3 components of event-related potentials were assessed in first-episode schizophrenic and normal control subjects (n=12/group). P3 amplitude was decreased in the patients most prominently over the frontal areas in contrast to a widespread P3 amplitude decrease reported in chronic schizophrenia. Moreover, frontal attenuation of P3 amplitude was greater in the non-medicated compared with medicated patients, a finding that suggests frontal areas are primarily affected at the onset of the first schizophrenic episode. Prolongation of N2 and P3 latencies was also observed in the patients, which indicates that stimulus classification and memory updating processes were slowed even in early stages of schizophrenia. These findings indicate that first-episode schizophrenic patients produce N2 and P3 abnormalities that are distinct from those in chronic patients, and that psychotropic medication can attenuate event-related potential effects in specific ways.