Suicide Attempts, Neurocognitive Dysfunctions and Clinical Correlates in Middle-Aged and Elderly Chinese Schizophrenia Patients

Background: Suicide is a common and complex symptom of schizophrenia that may be related to clinical variables and neurocognitive function. This study aimed to investigate the associated correlates of suicide attempts in Chinese middle-aged and elderly inpatients with schizophrenia, including demographic and clinical characteristics and cognitive level, which has not yet been reported.Methods: A total of 426 schizophrenia inpatients were recruited for this study. Clinical symptoms were evaluated using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Neurocognitive function was measured by the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS).Results: The prevalence of suicide attempts in middle-aged and elderly Chinese schizophrenia patients was 13.3%. Female patients had a higher suicide rate than male patients. Patients with suicide attempts had significantly higher PANSS-positive subscores, depressive subscores, and RBANS-story recall than non-attempter patients (all p < 0.05). Multiple logistic regression showed that gender, positive subscore, depressive subscore and RBANS-story recall (OR = 1.10–2.19, p < 0.05) were independently associated with suicide attempts in middle-aged and elderly schizophrenia patients.Conclusions: Our study showed that the rate of suicide attempts in Chinese middle-aged and elderly schizophrenia patients is high. Compared to non-attempters, there are less cognitive impairments, more clinical symptoms, and more female patients in the suicide attempters.

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Sex-dependent effect on the association of COMT Val158Met polymorphism with schizophrenia clinical symptoms and cognitive impairment

10.21203/rs.3.rs-817886/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Hang Xu ◽

Yongjie Zhou ◽

Jiesi Wang ◽

Meihong Xiu ◽

Dachun Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Clinical Symptoms ◽

Chronic Schizophrenia ◽

Positive Symptoms ◽

Sexually Dimorphic ◽

Genotype Distribution ◽

Immediate Memory ◽

Neuropsychological Status ◽

Syndrome Scale ◽

Negative Syndrome

Abstract Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met (rs4680) polymorphism is thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia, which is related to the regulation of dopamine transmission in the prefrontal cortex. Recent studies have shown that the influence of COMT Val158Met variation is sexually dimorphic. This study aims to explore the possible effect of the interaction between COMT Val158Met polymorphism and sex on patients’ clinical characteristics and cognitive function. 367 inpatients with chronic schizophrenia (246 males and 121 females) and 419 healthy controls (172 males and 247 females) are recruited. The cognitive performances are assessed by Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS), and the COMT Val158Met polymorphism is genotyped. The psychopathological symptoms of the patients are assessed by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). We find that: 1) sex difference in the allele frequency and genotype distribution of COMT Val158Met are found only in schizophrenia patients; 2) there is sex × COMT genotype interaction in positive symptoms, immediate memory, attention, and RBANS total score indexes in patients with schizophrenia; 3) mainly in the male patients’ sample, Val/Val carriers exhibit more positive symptoms and more severe cognitive impairment than Met carriers. These findings suggest that COMT Val158Met polymorphism is associated with the risk and severity of schizophrenia in a sexually dimorphic way, which is helpful to understand the factors that may lead to different manifestations of male and female patients with schizophrenia.

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Interrelationships Between BDNF, Superoxide Dismutase, and Cognitive Impairment in Drug-Naive First-Episode Patients With Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia Bulletin ◽

10.1093/schbul/sbaa062 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 46 (6) ◽

pp. 1498-1510 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Mei Hong Xiu ◽

Zezhi Li ◽

Da Chun Chen ◽

Song Chen ◽

Maile E Curbo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Superoxide Dismutase ◽

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Clinical Symptoms ◽

Interactive Effect ◽

Redox System ◽

First Episode ◽

Sod Activity ◽

Neuropsychological Status ◽

Syndrome Scale ◽

Drug Naïve

Abstract The pathogenesis and etiology of schizophrenia (SCZ) remains unclear. Accumulating studies showed that complex interrelationships between brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and an imbalanced redox system has a crucial role in the psychopathology of SCZ. However, the influence of the interrelationships of BDNF and superoxide dismutase (SOD) on cognitive impairment and clinical symptomatology in drug-naive first-episode (DNFE) SCZ patients has not been studied thoroughly. Serum BDNF levels, plasma total SOD, manganese-SOD (Mn-SOD), copper/zinc-containing SOD (CuZn-SOD) activities, and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were measured in 327 DNFE patients with SCZ and 391 healthy controls. Cognitive functions were measured using the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological status (RBANS) and clinical symptoms were evaluated by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Compared with the controls, the DNFE patients had increased activities of total SOD and CuZn-SOD, and reduced levels of BDNF and MDA. BDNF levels were positively correlated with CuZn-SOD activity in patients. In addition, we found that elevated Mn-SOD and CuZn-SOD activities were related to PANSS depression factor. Moreover, an interactive effect of BDNF levels and Mn-SOD activity was associated with attentional index score in the patients. Therefore, our findings suggested that interrelationships between BDNF and antioxidant mechanisms might underlie the pathological mechanisms of cognitive impairments and symptomatology in the DNFE patients with SCZ.

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Identifying Suicide Typologies Among Trauma-Exposed Veterans

Crisis ◽

10.1027/0227-5910/a000637 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 41 (4) ◽

pp. 288-295 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nadia Bounoua ◽

Jasmeet P. Hayes ◽

Naomi Sadeh

Keyword(s):

Latent Profile Analysis ◽

Suicide Attempts ◽

Clinical Symptoms ◽

Profile Analysis ◽

Risky Behaviors ◽

Self Report ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Research Priority ◽

Self Harm ◽

And Behaviors

Abstract. Background: Suicide among veterans has increased in recent years, making the identification of those at greatest risk for self-injurious behavior a high research priority. Aims: We investigated whether affective impulsivity and risky behaviors distinguished typologies of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors in a sample of trauma-exposed veterans. Method: A total of 95 trauma-exposed veterans (ages 21–55; 87% men) completed self-report measures of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors, impulsivity, and clinical symptoms. Results: A latent profile analysis produced three classes that differed in suicidal ideation, suicide attempts and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI): A low class that reported little to no self-injurious thoughts or behaviors; a self-injurious thoughts (ST) class that endorsed high levels of ideation but no self-harm behaviors; and a self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (STaB) class that reported ideation, suicide attempts and NSSI. Membership in the STaB class was associated with greater affective impulsivity, disinhibition, and distress/arousal than the other two classes. Limitations: Limitations include an overrepresentation of males in our sample, the cross-sectional nature of the data, and reliance on self-report measures. Conclusion: Findings point to affective impulsivity and risky behaviors as important characteristics of veterans who engage in self-injurious behaviors.

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A Prospective Study on the Association Between Grip Strength and Cognitive Function Among Middle-Aged and Elderly Chinese Participants

Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/fnagi.2019.00250 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Yong Liu ◽

Xinyi Cao ◽

Nannan Gu ◽

Bixi Yang ◽

Jijun Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Function ◽

Prospective Study ◽

Grip Strength ◽

Middle Aged ◽

Elderly Chinese ◽

A Prospective Study

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Bidirectional association between depression and multimorbidity in middle-aged and elderly Chinese adults: a longitudinal cohort study

Aging & Mental Health ◽

10.1080/13607863.2021.1877609 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-7

Author(s):

Yanan Qiao ◽

Siyuan Liu ◽

Yuxia Zhang ◽

Ying Wu ◽

Yueping Shen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cohort Study ◽

Longitudinal Cohort Study ◽

Middle Aged ◽

Chinese Adults ◽

Longitudinal Cohort ◽

Bidirectional Association ◽

Elderly Chinese

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Decision making under ambiguity and risk in adolescent-onset schizophrenia

BMC Psychiatry ◽

10.1186/s12888-021-03230-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Dandan Li ◽

Fengyan Zhang ◽

Lu Wang ◽

Yifan Zhang ◽

Tingting Yang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Executive Function ◽

Iowa Gambling Task ◽

Clinical Symptoms ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Syndrome Scale ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Abnormal Pattern ◽

Negative Syndrome ◽

The Relationship

Abstract Objective Numerous studies have identified impaired decision making (DM) under both ambiguity and risk in adult patients with schizophrenia. However, the assessment of DM in patients with adolescent-onset schizophrenia (AOS) has been challenging as a result of the instability and heterogeneity of manifestations. The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and Game of Dice Task (GDT), which are frequently used to evaluate DM respectively under ambiguity and risk, are sensitive to adolescents and neuropsychiatric patients. Our research intended to examine the performance of DM in a relatively large sample of patients with AOS using the above-mentioned two tasks. We also aimed to take a closer look at the relationship between DM and symptom severity of schizophrenia. Methods We compared the performance of DM in 71 patients with AOS and 53 well-matched healthy controls using IGT for DM under ambiguity and GDT for DM under risk through net scores, total scores and feedback ration. Neuropsychological tests were conducted in all participants. Clinical symptoms were evaluated by using Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) in 71 patients with AOS. Pearson’s correlation revealed the relationship among total score of DM and clinical and neuropsychological data. Results Compared to healthy controls, patients with AOS failed to show learning effect and had a significant difference on the 5th block in IGT and conducted more disadvantageous choices as well as exhibited worse negative feedback rate in GDT. Apart from DM impairment under risk, diminished DM abilities under ambiguity were found related to poor executive function in AOS in the present study. Conclusions Our findings unveiled the abnormal pattern of DM in AOS, mainly reflected under the risky condition, extending the knowledge on the performance of DM under ambiguity and risk in AOS. Inefficient DM under risk may account for the lagging impulse control and the combined effects of developmental disease. In addition, our study demonstrated that the performance on IGT was related to executive function in AOS.

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Has Bipolar Disorder become a predominantly female gender related condition? Analysis of recently published large sample studies

International Journal of Bipolar Disorders ◽

10.1186/s40345-020-00207-z ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Bernardo Dell’Osso ◽

Rita Cafaro ◽

Terence A. Ketter

Keyword(s):

Suicide Attempts ◽

Bipolar Disorders ◽

Female Gender ◽

Epidemiological Studies ◽

Related Condition ◽

Gender Distribution ◽

Adequate Treatment ◽

Large Sample ◽

Female Patients ◽

Gender Specific

AbstractBipolar Disorders (BD) are disabling and severe psychiatric disorders, commonly perceived as equally affecting both men and women. The prevalence of BD in the general population has been growing over the last decade, however, few epidemiological studies are available regarding BD gender distribution, leaving unanswered the question whether the often reported increment of BD diagnosis could be gender specific. In fact, BD in female patients can often be misdiagnosed as MDD, leaving such women non correctly treated for longer times than their male counterparts. From this perspective, we searched literature for large sample (> 1000 subjects) studies published in the last decade (2010 onward) on BD patients. We included ten large sample studies that reported the gender distribution of their samples, and we therefore analysed them. Our results show a higher preponderance of female patients in every sample and sub-sample of BDI and BDII, supporting our hypothesis of an increase in BD diagnosis in females. BD in women presents with higher rates of rapid cycling, depressive polarity and suicide attempts, characteristics of non inferior severity compared to males; prompt recognition and adequate treatment of BD is therefore crucial to reduce risks and improve quality of life of affected women. In this regard, our results could lead the way for national or international epidemiological studies with the aim of more accurately assessing gender-specific prevalence of BD.

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