The association between sibling bullying and psychotic-like experiences among children age 11-16 years in China.

BACKGROUND: Few studies exist on sibling bullying or even sibling aggression more generally in the past 30 years. Studies of sibling bullying have shown that sibling bullying may associate with depression, anxiety, self-harm, suicide ideation in early adulthood. Nevertheless, few studies have explored the relationship between sibling victimization types and the occurrence of psychosis, not to mention that psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) always occur before psychotic disorders. Therefore, the current study aims to examine the association between sibling bullying and PLEs among children age 11-16 years in China. METHOD: This is a cross-sectional study which included 3231 students from eight junior middle schools in three cities of Hunan Province, China. Frequency and types of sibling bullying was assessed with Sibling Bullying Questionnaire and PLEs was assessed with Community Assessment Psychic Experiences-42. RESULTS: The percentage of sibling bullying were 12.9% for victimization and 10.8% for perpetration. Sibling bullying plays as an independent influence factor for all subtypes of PLEs, and verbal victimization was the most important risk factor in developing different subtypes of PLEs followed by physical victimization and verbal perpetration. CONCLUSION: The current study found that sibling bullying is associated with PLEs. Intervention programs should be conducted to focus on those children and adolescents who are involved in multiple types of sibling victimization or perpetration.

The prevalence of confirmed childhood trauma and its' impact on psychotic-like experiences in a sample of Chinese adolescents.

Adolescents with childhood trauma may be associated with psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) and is at high risk for later development of psychoses. Exploring early age risk factors for childhood trauma may provide useful information for prevention of mental disorders and improvement of mental health, yet no studies have examined the association between exposure to specific forms of trauma and different types of PLEs in a sample of Chinese adolescents. Thus, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form was used to measure five types of childhood trauma (emotional abuse, EA; physical abuse, PA; sexual abuse, SA; emotional neglect, EA; physical neglect, PA) in junior middle school students. And the positive subscale of Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences divided into four types (bizarre experiences, perceptual abnormalities, persecutory ideation and magical thinking) was used to measure PLEs. Then the possible associations among demographic information and specific types of childhood trauma on specific forms of PLEs was compared. The rates of EA, PA, SA, EA and PA were 14.2%, 13.0%, 16.1%, 60.0%, and 78.6%, respectively. Moreover, childhood trauma seems to be a main role in the development of PLE, and EA and SA patients are particularly likely to experience PLEs.

Escitalopram versus paroxetine controlled release in major depressive disorder: a randomized trial.

OBJECTIVE: There are no direct comparisons between escitalopram and paroxetine controlled release in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). METHODS: We conducted a 24-week, rater-masked, randomized trial of escitalopram (5-20 mg/day) versus paroxetine controlled release (12.5-50 mg/day) in patients with MDD (UMIN000011191). Patients with the diagnosis of moderate-to-severe MDD (a 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression [HAMD-17], with total score at baseline being ≥20) were recruited to participate in a parallel, randomized, controlled trial. The primary outcome for efficacy was an improvement in the 21-item HAMD (HAMD-21) total score at 24 weeks. The secondary outcomes were the response, remission, and discontinuation rates and the incidence of individual adverse events. RESULTS: A total of 88 patients with MDD (males, 61.4%; mean age, 40.8±13.4 years) were recruited. The discontinuation rate was 58.0% (escitalopram, 55.8%; paroxetine controlled release, 60.0%). Both escitalopram and paroxetine controlled-release treatment groups exhibited significant reduction in the HAMD-21 total score at 2, 4, 8, 12, and 24 weeks from the baseline. However, there were no significant differences in the HAMD-21 total score, response rate, remission rate, and discontinuation rate at any time point between the groups. In addition, there were no significant differences in the incidence of any individual adverse events (eg, nausea, vomiting, and somnolence) between the treatment groups. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that escitalopram and paroxetine controlled release had similar efficacy and safety profiles in patients with MDD. One of the primary limitations of this study is the small sample size.

Long-term monotherapy with suplatast tosilate in patients with mild atopic asthma: a pilot comparison with low-dose inhaled fluticasone.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Suplatast tosilate is a Th2 cytokine inhibitor that is effective for controlling persistent asthma. However, the long-term efficacy of suplatast is unknown. We compared the clinical efficacy of long-term monotherapy with suplatast tosilate with a low dose of inhaled steroids in patients with mild atopic asthma. METHODS: A total of 32 patients with mild atopic asthma were randomly assigned to receive suplatast (n=15) or fluticasone (n=17). In the suplatast group, 100 mg of suplatast was given orally 3 times a day (total daily dose = 300 mg) for 2 years. In the fluticasone group, 100 pg of fluticasone was inhaled twice a day (total daily dose = 200 tg) for 2 years. RESULTS: In the suplatast group, the improvements in peak expiratory flow (PEF) rate and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) and the changes in the symptom diary scale and frequency of beta2 stimulant inhalation were generally similar to those in the fluticasone group, and efficacy was maintained for 2 years. Improvements in inflammatory indices, such as the sputum eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) level and exhaled nitric oxide concentration, were comparable in the suplatast and fluticasone groups. The improvement in airway hyperresponsiveness was also similar in the 2 groups. The peripheral blood eosinophil percent change, serum ECP level, and total IgE antibody titer improved only in the suplatast group. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term treatment with suplatast significantly improved symptoms and inflammatory indices in patients with mild atopic asthma. Along with fluticasone, suplatast is considered a useful drug for the management of mild atopic asthma.

Comparative evaluation of the leukotriene receptor antagonist pranlukast versus the steroid inhalant fluticasone in the therapy of aged patients with mild bronchial asthma.

A comparative study was conducted in elderly subjects with mild bronchial asthma to investigate the clinical usefulness of monotherapy with a leukotriene receptor antagonist in comparison to an inhaled corticosteroid. A total of 41 elderly patients aged 65 years or older with mild bronchial asthma, classified as being in severity step 1 and 2, were randomly assigned to the following two treatment groups: a pranlukast (CAS 103177-37-3, Onon) treatment group of 21 patients and an inhaled corticosteroid treatment group of 20 patients. Patients of the former group received pranlukast 450 mg daily and those of the latter group received fluticasone (CAS 90566-53-3) 200 microg daily for eight weeks. In the reference group, one patient was found to suffer from oral candidiasis 4 weeks after the start of the study. Therefore the evaluation was conducted on the remaining 19 participants. The evaluation parameters examined were obtained by keeping an asthma diary, determinations of PEF (peek expiratory flow), use frequency of beta2 stimulants, changes in symptom scores, and medication compliance. Further, measured before and after therapy were the ratio of peripheral blood eosinophils counts, serum ECP (eosinophils cationic protein), ECP levels induced sputum, and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1.0). As a result, in the time-course changes of symptoms scores and morning PEF, swift improvement was noted in the pranlukast group. Further, in the variables such as use frequency of beta2 stimulants, serum ECP levels, ECP levels induced sputum, and FEV1.0, an almost comparable level of improvement to the fluticasone group was demonstrated. From the above results, it was deemed that in elderly patients with mild bronchial asthma classified as steps 1 and 2, the pranlukast monotherapy, with superior medication compliance to inhaled therapy, would produce an equivalent level of clinical efficacy to the monotherapy with inhaled corticosteroid (fluticasone 200 microg daily).