Metabolic profile of first and second generation antipsychotics among Chinese patients.

The metabolic profiles of Chinese patients treated with second-generation antipsychotic (SGA) medication and first-generation antipsychotic (FGA) medication were compared. The sample comprised 99 patients treated with SGA (risperidone, olanzapine and ziprasidone) and 99 with FGA (chlorpromazine, haloperidol and trifluoperazine) from the outpatient clinic of a teaching hospital in Hong Kong. The most frequent psychiatric diagnosis was schizophrenia, followed by affective disorder and other psychiatric diagnoses. Subjects were measured for body weight, body height, fasting lipid and glucose levels. SGA was associated with higher LDL-cholesterol level than FGA. Individual comparison of different antipsychotics showed that patients on olanzapine had the greatest increases in cholesterol and triglycerides among all antipsychotics. The finding suggested SGA, particularly olanzapine, were associated with more metabolic risk factors than first-generation antipsychotics.

Prevalence of borderline personality disorder and its clinical correlates in Chinese patients with recent deliberate self-harm.

This study examined the point prevalence of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and its clinical correlates in patients with recent deliberate self-harm (DSH) in Hong Kong. A representative consecutive sample (n = 160) of patients with DSH referred to Prince of Wales Hospital from April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2008 was recruited. Their BPD status was determined according to the BPD subscale of the Chinese version of Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders (SCID-II). The point prevalence of BPD was calculated. Subjects with and without BPD were compared in terms of demographic and clinical characteristics. Thirty out of 160 (18.8%) DSH patients were found to suffer from BPD. DSH patients with BPD were more likely to be female (p = .020), more often reported history of childhood physical (p = 0.043) and sexual abuse (p < 0.001), history of past DSH (p = 0.010), being younger at first DSH (p = 0.039), and more likely to suffer from current alcohol and substance use disorder (p = 0.043) and eating disorder (p = 0.040) than those without BPD. Being female, having history of childhood sexual abuse and current alcohol and substance use disorder were found to be independent predictors of BPD status by binary logistic regression.