Heterogeneity of the jealousy phenomenon in the general population: an Italian study.

Introduction: Despite the general agreement that normal jealousy is heterogenous, little is known about this specific topic.

Methods: In the present study, we explored the possibility of distinguishing between four subtypes of "normal" jealousy (depressive, anxious, obsessive, and paranoid) amongst a cohort of 500 healthy university students by means of a specifically designed questionnaire, "Ouestionario della gelosia" (QUEGE). QUEGE is a self-report instrument of 30 items which explores the presence, frequency, and duration of feelings and behaviors related to jealousy.

Rapid sequence intubation: a review of recent evidences.

Rapid sequence intubation is an essential bullet in the maintenance of patency of the airway during intubation in emergency. It is a valid method in all those situations where you can not determine whether the patient is fasting or not. But RSI is not applicable in all critically ill patients.

Low central venous saturation predicts poor outcome in patients with brain injury after major trauma: a prospective observational study.

Background: Continuous monitoring of central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO2) has been proposed as a prognostic indicator in several pathological conditions, including cardiac diseases, sepsis, trauma. To our knowledge, no studies have evaluated ScvO2 in polytraumatized patients with brain injury so far. Thus, the aim of the present study was to assess the prognostic role of ScvO2 monitoring during first 24 hours after trauma in this patients' population.

Substance use in severe mental illness: self-medication and vulnerability factors.

The aim of this article is to examine the onset and clinical correlates of substance use in patients with psychotic disorders. One hundred and eight inpatients and outpatients with DSM-IV psychotic disorders were evaluated with the SCI-SUBS, an instrument designed to explore the spectrum of substance use and its clinical correlates. Comparisons were made between subjects with (n=47) and without (n=61) a DSM-IV diagnosis of substance use disorder (SUD).

Family history of psychiatric disorders and alcohol and substance misuse in patients with bipolar I disorder, substance use disorder, or both.

Family history data were collected on first-degree relatives of 78 patients with bipolar I disorder (BD) and substance use disorder (SUD), 47 with BD only, and 35 with SUD only. The prevalence of psychiatric disorders was significantly higher in first-degree relatives of patients with BD + SUD (64%) and BD (61%) compared with first-degree relatives of SUD patients (20%). The prevalence of alcohol misuse was significantly higher in first-degree relatives of patients with BD + SUD (23.

The spectrum of substance abuse in bipolar disorder: reasons for use, sensation seeking and substance sensitivity.

Objectives: To examine the spectrum of alcohol and substance abuse, including reasons for use, in patients with bipolar I disorder, compared with patients with substance use disorder and healthy controls, with a specific focus on the relationship between substance use, substance sensitivity, other comorbid psychiatric symptoms and traits related to sensation seeking.

Methods: This study included 104 patients with bipolar I disorder (BPD I), of whom 57 (54.8%) met DSM-IV criteria for lifetime alcohol or substance use disorder (BPD + SUD), 35 patients with substance use disorder (SUD) and no psychiatric disorder and 50 healthy controls.

[Experience of a centre for the study of occupational adjustment disorders referred to psychological harassment-related diseases at the workplace].

Background: The rising awareness of psychological harassment at the workplace means that it is ever more important to collect clinical data and test tools to assess psychiatric disease connected with this phenomenon.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess the experience gained by the centre for work maladjustment of the University Hospital of Pisa on a sample of patients, using the methods proposed by the centre at the Clinica del Lavoro "Luigi Devoto".

Materials And Methods: The patients were submitted to a diagnostic protocol consisting of work history, medical examination, psychological assessment, psychiatric examination, subjective questionnaires, mood scale and Neutest.

Reasons for substance use and vulnerability factors in patients with substance use disorder and anxiety or mood disorders.

This cross-sectional study examined the reasons for substance use and the presence of vulnerability factors such as substance sensitivity, sensation seeking, and symptoms related to the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in patients with substance use disorder (SUD) and comorbid mood and anxiety disorders by using the Structured Clinical Interview for the Spectrum of Substance Use (SCI-SUBS), a novel instrument designed to explore the spectrum of substance use and its clinical correlates. Study participants included 61 patients with SUD and mood or anxiety disorder, and two comparison groups including 35 patients with SUD only and 50 controls not in treatment for mental disorders or SUD. We found that patients with co-morbid mood or anxiety disorder had significantly higher scores on the SCI-SUBS domains 'substance sensitivity' and 'self-medication' as compared to those with SUD only.

The spectrum of substance use in mood and anxiety disorders.

This study evaluates the prevalence of threshold and subthreshold use of substances among patients with psychiatric disorders and 2 comparison groups. Participants were outpatients and inpatients with mood and anxiety disorders, subjects with opiate dependence, and a comparison group of individuals not undergoing treatment for psychiatric disorders. Assessments included the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition , Axis I Disorders, an interview exploring the spectrum of substance use (Structured Clinical Interview for the Spectrum of Substance Use), and a self-report instrument exploring the spectrum of 5 psychiatric disorders (General 5-Spectrum Measure).

Catechol o-methyltransferase, serotonin transporter, and tryptophan hydroxylase gene polymorphisms in bipolar disorder patients with and without comorbid panic disorder.

Objective: Genetic epidemiologic and clinical data suggest that comorbid panic disorder may define a subtype of bipolar disorder. Comorbid panic disorder might thereby influence the strength of association between bipolar disorder and genes that have been implicated in bipolar disorder on the basis of their function in monoamine neurotransmission and previously reported linkage results. Polymorphic markers at catechol O-methyltransferase (COMT), serotonin transporter (5-HTT), and tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) genes were analyzed in a case-control association study of bipolar disorder patients with or without lifetime panic disorder.