Latin American and Spanish-speaking perspectives on the challenges of global psychiatry.

The multi-faceted phenomenon known as globalization has a particular impact on the conceptual and practical development of mental health disciplines in general, and psychiatry in particular, across different world regions. To be theoretically and functionally effective, global psychiatry requires an integration of its different components. To such objective, and after a brief review of continental European and Anglo-Saxon contributions, this article examines the history, characteristics, and contributions of Latin/Iberian American and Spanish-speaking psychiatry, in order to substantiate its role in world psychiatry.

Cost analysis of the adverse reactions of bipolar disorder treatment with aripiprazole and olanzapine in Spain.

Objective: This study investigates the healthcare costs of adverse events (AE) associated with treatment of bipolar disorder with two atypical oral antipsychotics (AOA): aripiprazole (ARI) and olanzapine (OLA).

Methods: A cost analysis using a Markov model considering the following health states was performed: no existence of adverse events (NAE); extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS); weight gain (WG); and sexual dysfunction (SD). Transition probabilities amongst health states were estimated from meta-analyses of clinical trials and from a retrospective Spanish study.

Comparative study of neurocognitive function in euthymic bipolar patients and stabilized schizophrenic patients.

Few studies have compared neurocognitive performance in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder (BD), stabilized patients with schizophrenia (SC) and normal controls (NC) using a comprehensive neuropsychological battery, and those that have been conducted have yielded discrepant results. We evaluated the neurocognitive profile shown by 73 euthymic patients with BD, 89 stabilized patients with SC and 67 NC. All participants completed a cognitive battery in which the domains evaluated were executive functioning, sustained attention, and verbal and visual memory.

Routine laboratory screening among newly admitted psychiatric patients: is it worthwhile?

Objective: This study compared the prevalence of abnormal results of laboratory tests routinely performed among newly hospitalized psychiatric patients in Spain and the cost-effectiveness of such tests.

Methods: Routine biochemical tests were performed for 510 newly hospitalized psychiatric patients. For all tests, this study examined the prevalence of values outside the normal range and compared the number needed to screen to find one abnormal result (NNSAR=1/prevalence of abnormal results in the studied population) with the direct cost spent to find one abnormal result (DCSAR=NNSAR x direct cost per test).

Structural neuroimaging in adolescents with a first psychotic episode.

Objective: The objective of the present study is to replicate findings in first-episode psychosis reporting a smaller volume in brain structures in a population with adolescent onset.

Method: Magnetic resonance imaging studies were performed on 23 psychotic adolescents (12-18 years old, 17 males, 6 females) consecutively admitted to an adolescent inpatient unit and on 37 normal controls (13-18 years, 23 males, 14 females) matched for age, sex, and years of education. Diagnosis was made at baseline on the basis of the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime version and confirmed after 12 months of follow-up.

[Mental disorders in victims of terrorism and their families].

Background And Objective: To find out whether victims of terrorism and their relatives have higher prevalence of affective, anxiety, and alcohol abuse disorders than the general population.

Material And Method: Between January 1997 and January 2001, 544 families affected by terrorist violence in Spain were interviewed. Victims and their relatives (n = 1,021) were evaluated by means of the PRIME-MD.