Psychiatric morbidity and its sociodemographic correlates among women in Irbid, Jordan.

The rate of psychiatric morbidity and its sociodemographic correlates was estimated in 2000 women attending 3 primary care centres in Irbid, Jordan. Women completed standardized diagnostic tools that yielded psychiatric diagnoses, a stress scale and sociodemographic details. The rate of psychiatric morbidity was 26.

Quality of life of patients with schizophrenia 2.

We studied quality of life in 211 patients with schizophrenia from 2 outpatient clinics in Irbid, Jordan and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, using the self-reporting questionnaire SRQ-24 and the modified version of the schizophrenia quality of life scale. Sex, marital status, employment, education, nonpsychotic symptoms and psychotic symptoms were examined. Approximately 27% had good quality of life, 19.

Sleepwalking associated with hyperthyroidism.

Objective: To report several cases of hyperthyroidism in patients presenting with the unusual symptom of sleepwalking and to discuss the possible pathophysiologic basis for this novel association.

Methods: After encountering and reporting the first case of new-onset somnambulism in a patient presenting with thyrotoxicosis at our institution, we routinely inquired about the sleep history of patients with thyrotoxicosis, questioning both the patients and family members when applicable. Those patients who actually had sleepwalking episodes coinciding with the onset of thyrotoxicosis underwent close follow-up, and the relationship between the sleepwalking and the results of thyroid function tests was analyzed.

Risk of seizure recurrence after a first unprovoked seizure: a prospective study among Jordanian children.

Purpose: There is wide variation in the reported recurrence rate after a first unprovoked seizure in children. We investigated the risk of recurrence after a first unprovoked seizure in Jordanian children and the risk factors associated with increased recurrence rate.

Methods: All consecutive patients aged 3 months-14 years who presented with their first unprovoked seizures between January 1997 and 2000, were included in a prospective study and followed up for 3 years for possible recurrence.

Al Ain community survey of psychiatric morbidity II. Sex differences in the prevalence of depressive disorders.

Aim: To examine sex differences in the prevalence of depressive disorders in an Arab community.

Methods: One thousand three hundred and ninety-four subjects (n=1394) were systematically sampled from the general population in Al-Ain city, United Arab Emirates. All subjects were interviewed and assessed with the modified version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) and a specially designed socio-demographic questionnaire.

Al-Ain community psychiatric survey IV: socio-cultural changes (traditionality-liberalism) and prevalence of psychiatric disorders.

Unlabelled: BACKGROUND This study was set to explore the relationship between socio-cultural change and psychopathology.

Method: A representative sample (n = 1,394) of Al-Ain adult population had their psychopathology assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview and other self-reported questionnaires, while the socio-cultural change was assessed with the modified version of the Socio-cultural Change Questionnaire (ScCQ). The reliability and construct validity of the modified ScCQ were assessed.

Reliability, validity, and factor structure of the Arabic version of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire.

The aim was to examine the psychometric properties of the Arabic 12-item General Health Questionnaire in a sample of university students. A sample of 157 university students was screened using this questionnaire and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-90. A standardized clinical interview using SCID was conducted on a subset of screened students.

A1 Ain Community Psychiatric Survey. I. Prevalence and socio-demographic correlates.

Background: Psychiatric community studies are essential for the planning and development of psychiatric services, as well as being helpful in examining the socio-demographic correlates of mental disorders in a given community. Few such studies have been carried out to date in the Arabian peninsula. This paper forms part of a multipurpose community psychiatric survey conducted in A1 Ain in the United Arab Emirates.

A comparison of the validity of two psychiatric screening questionnaires: the Arabic General Health Questionnaire (AGHQ) and Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) in UAE, using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis.

This study compared the ability of the Arabic General Health questionnaire (AGHQ) and Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) to screen ICD-10 psychiatric disorders in an Arab community in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. Standardised psychiatric assessments of subjects using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) were carried out. The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to determine validity indices for the AGHQ and SRQ-20.

Al Ain Community Survey of Psychiatric Morbidity III. The natural history of psychopathology and the utilization rate of psychiatric services in Al Ain.

Background: We evaluated the natural history of psychopathology in a stratified sample (n = 245) comprising subjects with no DSM-III-R psychiatric disorder, subthreshold disorder and threshold (DSM-III-R) psychiatric disorder, respectively, over a 12-months period, using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R mental disorders (SCID) as an assessment tool.

Methods: A representative sample categorized 1 year earlier into DSM-III-R psychiatric disorder, subthreshold disorder and no DSM-III-R psychiatric disorder were reassessed with SCID 1 year on. The incidence, recovery rates and the percentage of subthreshold disorders which become DSM-III-R disorders were calculated.

The performance of the Center for Epidemiologic Study Depression Scale (CES-D) in an Arab female community.

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the CES-D.

Methods: Three samples of young Arab females were chosen from different young female populations (n =450). The translated version of the CES-D, sociodemographic and risk factors questionnaires were applied to the above three samples.

The rationale, development and reliability of a new screening psychiatric instrument.

Background: This paper describes the rationale, development, reliability and validity of a new screening psychiatric instrument.

Method: The instrument comprises 26 items that tap the cardinal features of main psychiatric categories as defined by ICD-10 and DSM-IV. These items were adapted from various structured and semi-structured diagnostic interviews that yield ICD-10 and DSM-IV psychiatric diagnoses.

Self-perception profile in children with cancer: self vs parent report.

Self-perception about competence, behaviour, and self-worth were examined in 30 children (8 to 14 years) recently diagnosed as having cancer and were compared with that of their parents' perception. The poor agreement between parents' and children's ratings on physical appearance and social acceptance is noteworthy in that these two domains are particularly vulnerable in children with cancer, given the effect of chemotherapy on physical appearance and children's tendency to view themselves as socially undesirable or a burden to others. This finding, if replicated, can have implications for therapeutic intervention since the discrepancy score could be used to challenge children's negative views in the context of cognitive therapy to improve their self-esteem.

The validity of the Arabic Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale.

For the purpose of this study, a consecutive sample of 95 postpartum women were assessed at 1 week postpartum with the (EPDS) and at 8 +/- 2 weeks postpartum using the Present State Examination (PSE). A moderate correlation between PSE total score and EPDS score was found (r = 0.57).

The diagnostic stability of ICD-10 psychiatric diagnoses in clinical practice.

This study examines the stability of ICD-10 diagnoses of patients admitted to Al Ain (United Arab Emirates) inpatients psychiatric unit during the period from November 1993 to August 1995. Diagnostic stability is a measure of the degree to which diagnoses remained unchanged at a later hospital admission. One hundred and seven patients were admitted more than once during this period, accounting for 168 readmissions.

Validation of the Arabic versions of the thirty- and twelve-item General Health Questionnaires in primary care patients.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the validity of the Arabic versions of the GHQ-30 and GHQ-12 in a sample of primary health care (PHC) patients in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.

Method: A randomly selected sample (n = 157) of patients attending a PHC centre in Al Ain was screened using the Arabic version of the GHQ-30, the first 12 items of which constitute the GHQ-12. Then a standardised clinical interview using the Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS) was conducted with all screened patients.

Efficacy and safety of risperidone in psychotic patients: an open study.

This open prospective study was undertaken to determine the efficacy and safety of a fixed dose (6 mg) of risperidone in psychotic patients. Hospital in-patients who fulfilled DSM-111-R criteria for schizophrenia, schizoaffective and bipolar disorders were eligible for entry into the study (n = 15). Patients who were on other antipsychotics had a washout period of 1 week before they were started on the drug.

Stability of psychiatric diagnoses in clinical practice.

This is a retrospective study that aimed at studying the diagnostic stability of psychiatric diagnoses over a 4-year period. Three-hundred and twelve patients (n = 312) admitted more than once to Al Ain in-patient unit from January 1, 1990 to December 31, 1993, were the subjects for this study. The sample included patients with the following index diagnoses: acute psychoses (n = 37), alcohol abuse (n = 15), bipolar disorder (n = 27), depressive disorders (n = 63), drug abuse (n = 21), hysteria (n = 23), neurotic disorders (n = 50) and schizophrenia (n = 76).

The reliability and validity of the proposed axis V (disabilities) of ICD-10.

Background: The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the newly proposed axis V (disabilities) of ICD-10.

Method: Eighty-six acutely ill men and women were prospectively recruited from the Al Ain psychiatric units, UAE. Both versions of ICD-10, the Clinical Descriptions and Diagnostic Guidelines and the Diagnostic Criteria for Research (DCR) were used for coding axis I psychiatric diagnosis and its grade of severity; the WHO Disability Assessment Schedule was used to assess disabilities.

Predictors of employment status of treated patients with DSM-III-R diagnosis. Can logistic regression model find a solution?

To investigate the predictors of employment status of patients with DSM-III-R diagnosis, 55 patients were selected by a simple random technique from the main psychiatric clinic in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. Structured and formal assessments were carried out to extract the potential predictors of outcome of schizophrenia. Logistic regression model revealed that being married, absence of schizoid personality, free or with minimum symptoms of the illness, later age of onset, and higher educational attainment were the most significant predictors of employment outcome.