The impact of a simple individual psycho-education program on quality of life, rate of relapse and medication adherence in bipolar disorder patients.

INTRODUCTION: Bipolar disorder is one of ten most debilitating diseases in the world, leading to a lessened quality of life amongst its sufferers. This randomised control trial demonstrates the effectiveness of psycho-education intervention along with a patient support system in the management of this disorder. METHODOLOGY: In this trial, 108 patients, divided equally into two groups, were randomly assigned to receive either pharmacotherapy alone (control group) or psycho-education along with pharmacotherapy treatment (intervention group) for a two year period. Each individual patient in the "intervention" group received eight, fifty-minute sessions of psychological education, followed by monthly telephone follow-up care and psychological support in the subsequent 18 months. Each group was evaluated, once every 6 months for a period of 18 months, in the areas of "quality of life", "symptoms of relapse", "pharmacotherapy compliance" and "number of hospital admission for recurrence of bipolar disorder". RESULT: The result of this study indicates that patients in the "intervention" group had a statistically significant enhancement in medication compliance (P = 0.008). Regarding every aspect of life quality, this group was at a better position than the "control" group (P = 0.000). As to relapse and hospital admission, the "intervention" group reported much lower cases compared with the "control" group at a significance level of P = 0.000. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION: This research has demonstrated that in the psycho-education intervention group, there was a more significant improvement in all areas of quality of life, number of relapses, and hospitalization due to recurrence of bipolar disorder and medication compliance than it was evident in the control groups.

Demographic, personality and psychopathology characteristics of the runaway girls in social emergency and rehabilitation centre of shiraz, iran.

OBJECTIVE: The problem of runaway girls is one of the social problems which has become more prevalent and is considered a serious challenge for families, welfare centers and governmental organizations in Iran. This study aimed at determining the demographic, personality and psychopathology characteristic of a sample of runaway girls in Shiraz, Iran. METHODS: Fifty girls who had escaped from their home and were referred to the Women's Social Emergency and Rehabilitant Centre of Shiraz were compared with fifty girls who lived with their parents (control group). They were assessed by semi-structured interview based on the DSMIV-TR criteria, demographic questionnaire, the General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-R-106 (EPQ-R-106). RESULTS: Mean (±SD) age of the runaway girls was 19.9 (±3.81) years. Twenty (40%) were the first child of the family. Forty-three subjects (86%) were resident of cities. Physical abuse and neglect were more prevalent in the runaway girls (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences between two groups in history of major psychiatric disorders. Regarding GHQ-28, only in social function subscale, the runaway girls showed more disturbances in their social function compared to control group (P < 0.05). There were significant differences in extroversion, lying tendency, addiction tendency and crime seeking (P < 0.05) between the two groups and escaped girls showed more disturbances in comparison with the control group. CONCLUSION: The social burden of runaway girls in Shiraz is of significance and this subject warrants more attention from non-governmental and governmental organizations in order to provide more psychological and social support for these girls.

Body dysmorphic disorder and other psychiatric morbidity in aesthetic rhinoplasty candidates.

BACKGROUND: Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a psychiatric disorder characterised by the patient's preoccupation with an imagined defect in his or her physical appearance. Subjects with BDD often seek cosmetic surgery; however, the outcome of surgery is usually not satisfactory. The aim of current study was to investigate the prevalence of BDD among the patients seeking cosmetic surgery. METHOD: In a cross-sectional study, 306 patients referred to cosmetic surgery clinics were recruited. Two psychiatrists detected BDD by interviewing the patients using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fourth edition Text Revision (DSM IV-TR) criteria. Data analysis was done in Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) using the t-test and the Mann-Whitney test for numeral variables and the chi-square and Fisher's exact tests for nominal variables. RESULTS: Data analysis of demographics showed that 80% of patients were female. Analysis on disease-related variables showed that 126 (41%) of patients had an associated psychiatric disorder. Moreover, 75 patients (24.5%) fulfilled the DSM IV criteria for BDD. CONCLUSION: Findings from this study support earlier studies, which found that BDD is a relatively common disorder among individuals seeking aesthetic surgery, in particular in rhinoplasty patients. Preoperative psychiatry assessment recommends avoiding subsequent risk for both patients and surgeons.

Do memory complaints represent impaired memory performance in patients with major depressive disorder?

Memory complaints are found to be associated with depression. However, the question is, "How much these subjective complaints indicate objective memory impairments?" The aim of this study is to determine whether subjective memory complaints represent objective memory impairments and to establish the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and subjective memory complaints. Sixty-four patients with MDD were assessed for objective memory performance through subtests of the Wechsler Memory Scale-III. Memory complaints also were assessed in these patients with a structured interview. Thirty healthy controls were also included in the study to compare memory performance among groups. The Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression was used to measure the severity and characteristics of depression. Patients with MDD who had longer duration and earlier onset of depression reported more memory complaints. MDD patients with memory complaints had more hypochondriac concerns but not more depression severity compared with those without memory complaints. There was no relationship between subjective memory complaints and objective memory performance in MDD patients. Patients with MDD with and without memory complaints had lower scores on the Wechsler Memory Scale-III than the control group. Subjective memory complaints are not a valid indictor of objective memory impairments, and the diagnostic value of self-reported memory is being questioned in patients with MDD. The cognitive status of MDD patients should be assessed routinely, regardless of the patient awareness of his or her cognitive deficits.