Psychiatric Morbidity, Utilization and Quality of Mental Health Care in Long-Term Unemployed People.

Research has shown complex interactions between unemployment and mental health. However, the prevalence of specific mental disorders, utilization of mental health care services and influences on help-seeking behavior have been investigated surprisingly little in the past. In this study, we investigated a sample of long-term unemployed people in a cooperation program of the local unemployment agency and a psychiatric university hospital in a larger city in Germany.

Rapid switch from oral antiparkinsonian combination drug therapy to duodenal levodopa infusion.

Six patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) with severe motor complications were directly switched from their oral antiparkinsonian combination drug regime to nasoduodenal levodopa infusion without previously recommended transient treatment with levodopa alone. Duodenal levodopa infusion reduced motor complications to a considerable extent. We have shown that a prior change to an oral levodopa monotherapy and a slow titration of duodenal levodopa infusion may be skipped and a direct switch to duodenal levodopa is a safe option.