Problems of patients with schizophrenic disorders and of their families

1999 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dino Lanzara ◽  
Ugo Cosentino ◽  
Anna Maria Lo Maglio ◽  
Antonio Lora ◽  
Anna Nicolo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
Psychiatric Symptoms ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Family Burden ◽  
Positive Symptoms ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
Service Information ◽  
Icd 10 ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients

SummaryObjective — To evaluate psychopathological symptoms, disabilities and family burden in schizophrenic patients and to analyse predictors of family burden and relatives' satisfaction. Design — Descriptive study of 203 patients with an ICD 10 — F2 diagnosis (schizophrenia and related disorders) in contact with the Desio Department of Mental Health on 31st December 1994. Setting — The Desio Department of Mental Health. Main outcome measures — The patients have been evaluated in three areas: disability (by ADC-DAS), psychiatric symptoms (by 24 items BPRS) and family burden (by Family Problems questionnaire). The outpatient, hospital and residential care contacts of the patients have been collected for six months by our service information system. For each area (DAS, BPRS and FP) a principal component analysis and a rotation of the significant components have been performed. Eleven factors, derived from three scales, have been retained as explanatory variables. Finally, a multiple regression analysis has been performed to assess the influence of explanatory variables on the set of response variables regarding family burden and relatives' satisfaction. Results — One third of patients suffer of moderate-severe positive symptoms, while negative symptoms are less frequent.

scholarly journals Clinical and Dynamic Characteristics оf Therapeutic Remissions after Acute Paranoid Psychoses in Schizophrenic Patients Treated with Antipsychotics of Various Generations

Psychiatry ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 21-31
Author(s):  
S. A. Stolyarov
Keyword(s):  
Therapeutic Effect ◽  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
Positive Symptoms ◽  
Psychometric Assessment ◽  
Atypical Neuroleptics ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Comparative Aspect ◽  
Icd 10 ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients

Background: the comparative aspect of the clinical-diagnostic and prognostic evaluation of long-term remissions treated with antipsychotics of various generations in patients with shift-like schizophrenia remains poorly studied and retains scientific and practical actuality. The purpose of the study: a comparative study of the therapeutic effect of antipsychotics of different generations on clinical-psychopathological peculiarities and the dynamics of 2-year remissions after acute paranoid states in patients with shift-like schizophrenia. Patients and methods: 34 female patients (average age made up 26.9 years old) were diagnosed in shift-like schizophrenia with a clinical picture of the attack as acute paranoid syndrome (F20.02 according to ICD-10). 16 patients received treatment with typical neuroleptics (TN), other 18 patients received atypical neuroleptics (ATN). The study was conducted as an open prospective, using clinical-psychopathological, clinical-catamnestic and clinical-psychometric methods. The mental state of patients was assessed four times: upon admission to the hospital in acute psychosis (1 point), when entering remission (2 points), after 1 and 2 years of remission (3 and 4 points). In psychometric assessment was used calculated for 1 patient indices of the main total score of all signs (MTS) and main score of 1 sign (MS) of the PANSS scale and its subscales of positive (P), negative (N) and general psychopathological (G) syndromes. Results: at the end of the active treatment with both types of antipsychotics at the 2 point of assessment, was reduced MS of positive symptoms P+G subscales from 3.3 to 1.7 scores on TN and from 3.8 to 2.2 scores on ATN, with a remission and stabilization of the achieved improvement with reduction of MS at 4 points up to 1.5. MS of negative symptoms by the 2 nd  year of remission on ATN decreased from 2.7 to 2.0 in parallel with the reduction of positive signs by P + G; on TN there was an increase in MS indices of subscale N from 2.3 to 2.7 scores. The assessment of negative disorders is discussed as “secondary” negative due to the phenomenologically is assumed with the symptoms of the positive syndrome and the effects of neurolepsy. Conclusion: TN and ATN exhibit a similar “antipsychotic” effect in the treatment of acute paranoid psychoses in shift-like schizophrenia patients with the formation of long-term high quality remissions, stabilization of degrees of reducted productive psychopathological symptoms and with the absence of the progredience disease. To optimize the therapeutic effect of both types of antipsychotics, it is recommended correction of the regime and the term in transition from active to maintenance therapy and prescription of neurolepsy correctors to reduce severity in the picture of “secondary” negative symptoms.

Erotomanic Symptoms in 42 Chinese Schizophrenic Patients

1996 ◽  
Vol 169 (4) ◽  
pp. 501-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael R. Phillips ◽  
Charles L. West ◽  
Ruiwen Wang
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
Psychiatric Symptoms ◽  
Sexual Interest ◽  
Psychiatric Hospitals ◽  
Chinese Version ◽  
Positive Symptoms ◽  
Common Occurrence ◽  
Level Of Education ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients

BackgroundReports on erotomania frequently include schizophrenic patients with secondary erotomania, but there are no reports on the prevalence and characteristics of erotomanic symptoms in schizophrenic patients.MethodA structured item on erotomanic delusions was added to the Chinese version of the Scale for Assessment of Positive Symptoms and administered to 448 randomly selected schizophrenic patients on admission to four psychiatric hospitals in China.ResultsErotomanic symptoms were identified in 9.4% of the patients (42/448; 95% CI 6.9–12.4%); 4.5% (20/448; CI 2.8–6.8%) had erotomanic ideation and 4.9% (22/448; CI 3.1–7.4%) had fixed erotomanic delusions. Compared with patients without erotomanic symptoms, erotomanic patients were more likely to be male and unmarried, and they had a higher level of education, more severe grandiose delusions, more prominent hostility, and less severe negative symptoms.ConclusionThe relatively common occurrence of erotomanic symptoms in Chinese schizophrenic patients may be related to the indirect manner of expressing sexual interest in Chinese culture and, thus, be an example of the cultural moulding of psychiatric symptoms.

Dimensions of Outcome with Clozapine

1992 ◽  
Vol 160 (S17) ◽  
pp. 46-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herbert Y. Meltzer
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
Treatment Compliance ◽  
Family Burden ◽  
Positive Symptoms ◽  
Treatment Resistant ◽  
Cost Of Treatment ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients ◽  
The Cost

Various outcome measures following clozapine administration to neuroleptic-resistant schizophrenic patients are considered. The importance of a multidimensional perspective is emphasised. There was significant improvement in positive symptoms, some negative symptoms, quality of life, some types of cognitive function (e.g. semantic memory), extrapyramidal function, and tardive dyskinesia. Readmission to hospital, and family burden were markedly reduced, which achieved significant savings in the cost of treatment. Compliance with clozapine and weekly blood testing can be achieved in the majority of treatment-resistant cases. These benefits may occur independently of each other.

scholarly journals Family burden in schizophrenia: the influence of age of onset and negative symptoms

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 96-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas M. Mantovani ◽  
Rodrigo Ferretjans ◽  
Iara M. Marçal ◽  
Amanda M. Oliveira ◽  
Fernanda C. Guimarães ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
Disease Onset ◽  
Family Burden ◽  
Positive Symptoms ◽  
Subjective Burden ◽  
Sociodemographic Variables ◽  
Objective Burden ◽  
Positive And Negative Symptoms

Abstract Objectives: To investigate the determinants of family burden in a sample of patients with schizophrenia and their caregivers. Methods: Thirty-one stable patients with schizophrenia and their main caregivers were recruited. Sociodemographic variables were assessed in a semi-structured interview, and positive and negative symptoms were assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Cognitive performance was assessed with the Schizophrenia Cognition Rating Scale (SCoRS). Levels of burden on caregivers were assessed with the Family Burden Interview Schedule (FBIS). Interactions among variables were analyzed using Pearson correlations and linear regression analysis. Results: Objective and subjective FBIS scores were 1.9 (standard deviation [SD] = 0.5) and 2.4 (SD = 0.6) respectively. Objective burden correlated positively with positive and negative symptoms, and cognitive impairment. Subjective burden correlated positively with positive symptoms and negatively with mean age of disease onset. Positive, negative and cognitive symptoms accounted for 47.6% of the variance of objective burden, with negative symptoms accounting independently for 30.3%. Age of onset, parents as caregivers and positive symptoms accounted for 28% of the variance of subjective burden, with age of onset independently explaining 20.3%. Conclusion: Patients' clinical and sociodemographic variables are important determinants of family burden in schizophrenia. Objective burden is predicted by symptoms, particularly negative ones. Subjective burden is predicted by symptoms and sociodemographic variables, particularly age of disease onset.

Cognitive Function in Schizophrenia: Association with Negative and Positive Symptoms

1996 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald A. Capleton
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Functioning ◽  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
Wisconsin Card Sort Test ◽  
Positive Symptoms ◽  
Word Fluency ◽  
Generation Task ◽  
Card Sort ◽  
Word Generation ◽  
Perseverative Errors ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients

20 schizophrenic patients were classified as having either predominantly negative ( n = 11) or predominantly positive symptoms ( n = 9), utilizing the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms and the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms. Cognitive functioning was evaluated in these participants and 10 non-patient controls using a word-fluency test and word-generation task. Finally, all participants were evaluated using the Coglab Card Sort Test, a computerized version of the Wisconsin Card Sort Test. The only reliable difference in performance among groups was on perseverative errors on the Coglab Card Sort Test Schizophrenic participants made significantly more perseverative errors than controls and those classified as having primarily negative symptoms made more perseverative errors than those classified as having predominantly positive symptoms. These findings confirm previous reports with respect to cognitive functioning of schizophrenic patients and are consistent with the hypotheses regarding frontal lobe dysfunction in schizophrenia. These data encourage research with larger samples.

Negative Symptoms at Discharge and Outcome in Schizophrenia

1995 ◽  
Vol 166 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hai-Gwo Hwu ◽  
Happy Tan ◽  
Chu-Chang Chen ◽  
Ling-Ling Yeh
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Outcome ◽  
Social Functioning ◽  
Symptom Score ◽  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
Positive Symptom ◽  
Positive Symptoms ◽  
Symptom Scores ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients ◽  
Positive And Negative Symptoms

BackgroundThe clinical significance in schizophrenia of positive and negative symptoms at discharge was assessed.MethodOf schizophrenic patients fulfilling DSM–III criteria, 113 were recruited for this study. Personal, social and psychopathological data were collected and all cases were followed up at one and two years after discharge.ResultsThe presence of positive symptoms (64 cases), without concomitant negative symptoms, did not predict the follow-up social function and positive symptom score. Conversely, the presence of negative symptoms (31 cases) predicted worse social functioning (P < 0.05 to P < 0.005) and higher positive symptom scores (P < 0.01) at follow-up using MANOVA. Eighteen cases (15.9%) had neither positive nor negative symptoms and had the best clinical outcome.ConclusionsNegative, but not positive, symptoms assessed at discharge are an important predictor of poor outcome. In addition, negative symptoms may themselves expose a biological vulnerability to the presence of positive symptoms.

New dopaminergic and non-dopaminergic theories in schizophrenia and their therapeutic impact

1997 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 64-67
Author(s):  
R.S. Kahn
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Deficits ◽  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
Dopamine Neurons ◽  
Psychotic Symptoms ◽  
Positive Symptoms ◽  
The Core ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients ◽  
Core Symptoms ◽  
Influential Theory

The dopamine (DA) hypothesis of schizophrenia, postulating that schizophrenia is characterized by increased dopamine function, has been the most influential theory on the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. It has recently been revised based on the appreciation that the core symptoms of schizophrenia may not be the positive (psychotic) symptoms, but rather the negative symptoms and the cognitive deficits found in schizophrenic patients. This revision has prompted the hypothesis that schizophrenia is characterized by both decreased prefrontal dopamine activity (causing deficit symptoms) and increased dopamine activity in mesolimbic dopamine neurons (causing positive symptoms).Notwithstanding this revision of a role for dopamine in schizophrenia, it has become increasingly evident that dysfunction of other monoaminergic systems may be as important in contributing to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Specifically, the putative role of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) in schizophrenia is gaining considerable attention. Several observations, such as the ability of the 5-HT antagonist, ritanserin, to alleviate schizophrenic symptoms and, when added to haloperidol (Haldol®), to decrease its extrapyramidal side-effects (EPS), have stimulated studies into a role of 5-HT in schizophrenia. The finding that clozapine (Leponex®), clinically superior to conventional neuroleptics, is a weak DA2 antagonist but a potent 5-HT1c and 5-HT2 antagonist has further stimulated 5-HT-related research in schizophrenia.

Positive and Negative Symptoms in Psychiatry

1986 ◽  
Vol 148 (5) ◽  
pp. 587-589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael R. Trimble
Keyword(s):  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Personal Communication ◽  
Thought Disorder ◽  
Positive Symptom ◽  
Positive Symptoms ◽  
Market Research Company ◽  
Research Company ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients ◽  
Positive And Negative Symptoms

The terms positive and negative symptoms have slipped into the language of contemporary psychiatry with comparative ease. It is not uncommon for these expressions to be used with little explanation, both at meeting and in written communications, with the implicit understanding that their meaning is understood and that somehow they are of value to our knowledge of psychopathology. However, that there are no clear guide-lines at present for our use of these terms is shown from a recent survey of psychiatrists' opinions from a market research company (Martin Hamblin Research-Personal Communication). As part of a series of questions asked to many psychiatrists of differing age, geographical location, and status, they were asked about the meaning of these terms, positive and negative symptoms and the proportion of schizophrenic patients having them. Of the categories quoted by Crow (1980–81) as positive symptoms, 68% considered that delusions were positive symptoms, 63% hallucinations, and only 35% thought disorder. In contrast, 18% thought that behaviour disturbance was a positive symptom, a similar figure (15%) being given for passivity feelings. Considerable variation was noted, however, with hallucinations being considered positive by only 33% of London psychiatrists, thought disorder by only 11% of those qualified 16–25 years, and one-quarter of all registrars and psychiatrists from Midland Health Districts considered passivity feelings to fall into this category. Even greater disagreement was recorded for negative symptoms. Thus, the symptom most often associated with this category was apathy, by 52% of respondents. Only 26% considered that withdrawal was a negative symptom, the percentage data for lack of motivation and blunting of affect being 37% and 15% respectively.

Bereitschaftpotential in schizophrenia

1997 ◽  
Vol 171 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taha Karaman ◽  
Sibel Özkaynak ◽  
Korkut Yaltkaya ◽  
Çetin Büyükberker
Keyword(s):  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
Symptom Clusters ◽  
Positive Symptoms ◽  
Voluntary Movements ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Late Component ◽  
Subcortical Structures ◽  
Schizophrenic Patients ◽  
Motor Abnormalities

BackgroundSeveral reports have documented the presence of motor abnormalities in schizophrenic patients.MethodThirty schizophrenics and 28 healthy controls were included in the study. Scalp-recorded bereitschaftpotentials (BPs) generated prior to voluntary movements were recorded in all subjects.ResultsThe early (NSI) and late components of BP and peak negativity were reduced in all schizophrenic patients. In particular, the NSI was reduced in patients with positive symptoms, and the late component in patients with negative symptoms.ConclusionsThese findings provide further support for the involvement of frontal cortex, subcortical structures and their connections in schizophrenia, and highlight some differences between positive and negative symptom clusters.

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