Publications by authors named "Bulzacka E"

Objective: To compare the clinical symptomatology in patients with Early-Onset Schizophrenia (EOS, N = 176), especially the subgroup Very Early Onset Schizophrenia (VEOS) and Adult Onset Schizophrenia (AOS, N = 551).

Method: In a large French multicentric sample, 727 stable schizophrenia patients, classified by age at onset of the disorder, were assessed using standardized and extensive clinical and neuropsychological batteries: AOS with onset ≥ 18 years and EOS with onset < 18 years (including 22 VEOS < 13 years).

Results: The importance of better diagnosing EOS group, and in particularly VEOS, appeared in a longer DUP Duration of Untreated Psychosis (respectively, 2.

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Psychosocial Interventions (PIs) have shown positive effects on clinical and functional outcomes of schizophrenia (SZ) in randomized controlled trials. However their effectiveness and accessibility remain unclear to date in "real world" schizophrenia. The objectives of the present study were (i) to assess the proportion of SZ outpatients who benefited from PIs between 2010 and 2015 in France after an Expert Center Intervention in a national multicentric non-selected community-dwelling sample; (ii) to assess PIs' effectiveness at 1-year follow-up.

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Background: Extrapyramidal side effects (EPS) have been identified as a complication of antipsychotic treatment. Previous meta-analyses have investigated EPS prevalence and risk factors in randomized clinical trials with highly selected patients, but studies in real-world schizophrenia are missing.

Objective: To examine the prevalence and clinical correlates associated with EPS in a nonselected national multicenter sample of stabilized patients with schizophrenia.

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Objective: Existing staging models have not been fully validated. Thus, after classifying patients with schizophrenia according to the staging model proposed by McGorry et al. (2010), we explored the validity of this staging model and its stability after one-year of follow-up.

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Background: Predicting psychotic relapse is one of the major challenges in the daily care of schizophrenia.

Objectives: To determine the predictors of psychotic relapse and follow-up withdrawal in a non-selected national sample of stabilized community-dwelling SZ subjects with a machine learning approach.

Methods: Participants were consecutively included in the network of the FondaMental Expert Centers for Schizophrenia and received a thorough clinical and cognitive assessment, including recording of current treatment.

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Objectives: The present article is a synthesis of the first 10 years of follow-up of the FondaMental Academic Center of Expertise for Schizophrenia (FACE-SZ) cohort.

Methods: More than 700 community-dwelling stabilized subjects have been recruited and evaluated to date. The mean age was 32 years with 75 % males, the mean illness duration was 11 years, the mean age at illness onset was 21 years, the mean duration of untreated psychosis was 1.

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Objective: Hypovitaminosis D has been associated with respectively major depressive disorder, schizophrenia (SZ) and cognitive disorders in the general population, and with positive and negative symptoms and metabolic syndrome in schizophrenia. The objectives were (i) to determine the prevalence of hypovitaminosis D and associated factors (with a focus on depression and cognition) in a national non-selected multicentric sample of community-dwelling SZ subjects (ii) to determine the rate of SZ patients being administered vitamin D supplementation and associated factors.

Methods: A comprehensive 2 daylong clinical and neuropsychological battery was administered in 140 SZ subjects included between 2015 and 2017 in the national FondaMental Expert Center (FACE-SZ) Cohort.

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Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is underdiagnosed and undertreated in schizophrenia, and has been strongly associated with impaired quality of life.AimsTo determine the prevalence and associated factors of MDD and unremitted MDD in schizophrenia, to compare treated and non-treated MDD.

Method: Participants were included in the FondaMental Expert Centers for Schizophrenia and received a thorough clinical assessment.

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Objective: Latent Toxoplasma infection has been associated with widespread brain immune activation, increased blood brain barrier permeability, neural disruption, increased dopamine release in dopaminergic neurons, with NMDA activation and with schizophrenia (SZ) onset risk. Toxoplasma has been suggested to be a source of chronic low-grade inflammation and this inflammation has been associated with cognitive impairment in SZ. The objective of the present study were (i) to determine if latent Toxoplasma infection was associated with specific clinical features in stabilized SZ subjects, with cognitive impairment and with increased low-grade peripheral inflammation and (ii) to determine if Treatments with Anti-Toxoplasmic Activity (TATA) were associated with improved outcomes in subjects with latent Toxoplasma infection.

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A high rate of patients with schizophrenia (SZ) does not sufficiently respond to antipsychotic medication, which is associated with relapses and poor outcomes. Chronic peripheral inflammation has been repeatedly associated with schizophrenia risk and particularly to poor responders to treatment as usual with cognitive impairment in SZ subjects. The objective of present study was to confirm if ultra resistance to treatment in schizophrenia (UTRS) was associated to chronic peripheral inflammation in a non-selected sample of community-dwelling outpatients with schizophrenia.

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Introduction: Little is known about perception of physical pain in schizophrenia (SZ). Some studies have suggested that patients with SZ may have an increased pain threshold, while others have suggested that patients with SZ may suffer from undetected and untreated high physical pain levels. The objectives of this study were (i) to investigate the prevalence of self-reported physical pain in stabilized SZ subjects, and (ii) to determine whether physical pain was associated with psychiatric characteristics and somatic comorbidities (iii) to determine whether antidepressants and benzodiazepine administration were associated with lower self-reported pain.

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Low-grade inflammation has repeatedly been associated with schizophrenia (SZ) and in particular with cognitive impairment. Female gender, overweight and tobacco smoking have been suggested as risk factors to increase inflammation while preclinical inconsistent findings have been found regarding the association with psychotropic drugs. The aim of this study was to explore if psychotropic drugs were associated with inflammation in SZ and to determine which psychotropic drug was associated with inflammation in stable SZ subjects while considering clinical confounding factors.

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Objectives: Sex differences can yield important clues regarding illness pathophysiology and its treatment. Schizophrenia (SZ) has a lower incidence rate, and a better prognosis, in women versus men. The present study investigated the cognitive profiles of both sexes in a large multi-centre sample of community-dwelling SZ patients.

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Objectives: Reducing the duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) may improve the prognosis of schizophrenia. This study investigated the prevalence, and associated risk factors, of long DUP in a large, non-selected sample of community-dwelling schizophrenia patients (SZ).

Method: 478 community-dwelling stable SZ participants (122 women and 356 men; mean age 32.

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Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is highly prevalent in schizophrenia. However very little is known about the time course of MetS and its components. The few longitudinal studies that have been carried out had small sample sizes and a short follow-up.

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Objectives: Mindfulness based interventions (MBI) have recently gained much interest in western medicine. MBSR paradigm is based on teaching participants to pay complete attention to the present experience and act nonjudgmentally towards stressful events. During this mental practice the meditator focuses his or her attention on the sensations of the body.

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The association between advanced paternal age (APA) and increased risk of schizophrenia (SZ) is well established. The objectives of the present study were to further determine if SZ participants with APA (APA+), versus those without (APA-), had: (i) different illness characteristics; (ii) different responses to antipsychotic medication; and (iii) different cognitive characteristics. Participants were a non-selected representative multicentric sample of stabilized community-dwelling people diagnosed with SZ included in the FACE-SZ cohort.

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Objective: The effect of benzodiazepine long-term administration (BLTA) in cognitive functioning of subjects with schizophrenia (SZ) has been partially explored to date. The objective was to assess BLTA-associated cognitive impairment with a comprehensive cognitive battery in a non-selected multicentric/national community-dwelling sample of stabilized SZ subjects.

Method: 407 community-dwelling stabilized SZ subjects were consecutively included in the FondaMental Academic Centers of Expertise for Schizophrenia Cohort (FACE-SZ).

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Objectives: Depression and negative symptoms have been associated with impaired Quality of life (QoL) in schizophrenia (SZ). However, childhood trauma may influence both QoL and depression in SZ patients, with consequences for the management of impaired QoL in SZ patients. The aim of the present study was to determine if childhood trauma was associated with impaired QoL in schizophrenia.

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Objective: This study assesses the psychometric properties of Ward's seven-subtest short form (SF) for WAIS-IV in a sample of adults with schizophrenia (SZ) and schizoaffective disorder.

Method: Seventy patients diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were administered the full version of the WAIS-IV. Four different versions of the Ward's SF were then calculated.

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Children born by cesarean section ("c-birth") are known to have different microbiota and a natural history of different disorders including allergy, asthma and overweight compared to vaginally born ("v-birth") children. C-birth is not known to increase the risk of schizophrenia (SZ), but to be associated with an earlier age at onset. To further explore possible links between c-birth and SZ, we compared clinical and biological characteristics of c-born SZ patients compared to v-born ones.

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Objectives: Inflammation, measured by abnormal blood C-reactive protein (CRP) level, has been described in schizophrenia (SZ), being inconsistently related to impaired cognitive functions. The aim of the present study is to investigate cognitive impairment associated with abnormal CRP levels in a large multi-centric sample of community-dwelling SZ patients, using a comprehensive neuropsychological battery.

Method: Three hundred sixty-nine community-dwelling stable SZ subjects (76.

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Schizophrenia (SZ) is a chronic, severe disease, which results in misperception of reality, major social withdrawal, and cognitive disturbances. One type of cognitive disturbance, known as executive dysfunction, is widely considered as a primary determinant of functional outcome. However, classic neuropsychological measures of executive functioning (EF) poorly represent patients' functional outcome, and thus seem inappropriate for evaluating the real-world functional impact of diseases such as SZ.

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Objectives: The relation between C-Reactive Protein (CRP), depression and antidepressant consumption has been well explored in major depressive disorders but not in schizophrenia, which has a high rate of depression comorbidity. The objectives of this study were: (i) to determine the prevalence of abnormal CRP levels, depression and antidepressant consumption in a multicenter community-dwelling sample of subjects with schizophrenia (ii) to determine the association between abnormal CRP levels, depression and antidepressant consumption in schizophrenia.

Method: 219 stable patients with schizophrenia (mean age=31.

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Schizophrenia is probably the most severe psychiatric disorder with much suffering for the patients and huge costs for the society. Efforts to provide optimal care by general practitioners and psychiatrists are undermined by the complexity of the disorder and difficulties in applying clinical practice guidelines and new research findings to the spectrum of cases seen in day-to-day practice. An innovative model of assessment aimed at improving global care of people with schizophrenia provided by the French national network of schizophrenia expert centres is being described.

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