introduction: the relationship between epilepsy and psychiatric disorders is an important issue for researchers which affect the quality of life among patients. psychiatric comorbidities such as depression and anxiety, is associated with negative course of epilepsy, more complications, poor drug tolerance and higher mortality rates. in addition to the epileptic patients, their families are also...

AIM To investigate the relationship between total serum cholesterol and levels of depression, aggression, and suicidal ideations in war veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) without psychiatric comorbidity. METHODS A total of 203 male PTSD outpatients were assessed for the presence of depression, aggression, and suicidality using the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-...

BACKGROUND Apathy is usually defined as reduced interest and participation in various activities. It is a frequent consequence of neurological and psychiatric disorders. Although various scoring methods have been proposed, there is a lack of validated, standardised instruments for detecting apathy and assessing its severity. OBJECTIVE To develop an apathy rating scale using a structured stand...

DESCRIPTION. The Home & Community Social Behavior Scales (HCSBS) is a 64-item behavior rating scale that is completed by parents “and other home-based raters” of children and youth between ages 5 and 18. In contrast to the “highly clinical” nature of many child behavior rating instruments, the HCSBS is designed to emphasize “routine or commonly occurring social competencies and problems” (user’...

With interest in health economics growing, there is a demand for valid methods for measuring health-related quality of life (HRQL) in asthma using utilities. The aims of this study were to develop disease-specific versions of the standard gamble and rating scale, to compare their measurement properties with those of the Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ) and the Medical Outcomes Survey...

Obermeier and colleagues address an at-first glance trivial issue, which, however, has major implications on the analysis and interpretation of clinical trials: The scaling of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). The original version of the scale uses a 1–7 rating system that creates major problems of interpretation when it comes to the calculation of responder rates based on perce...

OBJECTIVE To determine the relationship between symptoms of schizophrenia and caregiver burden/distress among caregivers of people with schizophrenia in southwestern Nigeria. METHOD One hundred and one family caregivers of 101 patients with schizophrenia were recruited into the study. Caregivers were screened with the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) to measure caregiver burden and the 30 item Ge...

OBJECTIVE To examine changes in subjective and objective dimensions of quality of life (QoL) in a large Canadian sample of patients with diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder treated in academic and non-academic settings over a 2-year period. METHOD Patients recruited in the study across the country were assessed for QoL and functioning using the Client and Provider versions ...

BACKGROUND Data on the potential behavioral effects of music therapy in autism are scarce. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate whether a musical training program based on interactive music therapy sessions could enhance the behavioral profile and the musical skills of young adults affected by severe autism. METHODOLOGY Young adults (N = 8) with severe (Childhood Autism Rating...

AIMS Presence of the null FS63TER allele of the rs1800169 polymorphism in the gene encoding the ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) may increase the risk of schizophrenia. This study prospectively evaluated the CNTF rs1800169 genotype (G/G vs non-G/G) effects on response to iloperidone. PATIENTS & METHODS Iloperidone 24 mg/day was evaluated in a study of patients with schizophrenia. Efficacy m...