Involuntary social cue integration in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder.

Objective: Patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) have inferior social functioning compared to healthy controls, but the exact nature of these social deficits, and the underpinning mechanisms, are unknown. We sought to investigate social functioning in patients with OCD by measuring their involuntary/spontaneous processing of social cues using a specifically designed test, which might reveal deficits in these patients that explicit voluntary tasks do not detect.

Methods: The sample of the study consisted of an OCD group (n = 25) and a control group (n = 26).

Situation awareness in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Past studies have suggested that OCD patients suffer memory impairment on tasks using complex stimuli that require memory for combined elements to be maintained, but not for more simplistic memory tests. We tested this with 42 OCD patients and 42 healthy controls performed a computerized situation awareness task. In addition, participants completed the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) and Maudsley Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (MOCI).

Cognitive functions in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder.

Background: Recent studies have focused on the nature of cognitive dysfunction in bipolar patients. The purpose of the current study was to investigate cognitive performance of individuals with bipolar disorder compared to healthy control subjects during a well-established euthymic period.

Methods: The sample consisted of 27 bipolar euthymic patients and 21 control subjects.

Is psychogenic dizziness the exact diagnosis?

The main goal of the study is to determine the exact ratio of pure psychogenic dizziness. Patients from vertigo outpatient clinic were evaluated by SCL-90 R questionnaire, interviews, vestibular tests and magnetic resonance imaging (when needed). Five hundred and eighteen patients were evaluated for this study.

OCD symptoms in a sample of Turkish patients: a phenomenological picture.

This study aimed to investigate the clinical features of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and the possible association between obsessive-compulsive symptoms and culture-related characteristics in a sample of Turkish patients with OCD. We studied 141 patients with OCD (according to DSM-IV criteria) consecutively admitted to our outpatient clinic during the period from February 1998 to December 2003. We used the Turkish version of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) to interview all patients, and the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) to assess obsessive-compulsive symptoms and severity.

Memory function in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder and the problem of confidence in their memories: a clinical study.

Aim: To examine obsessive-compulsive patients for memory of obsessive-compulsive relevant material and confidence in their memory.

Methods: Memory function was examined by a recognition task using neutral and obsessive-compulsive relevant sentences in 32 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder and 31 control subjects. We also investigated the participants' confidence in the accuracy of their recognition.

Psychiatric disorders and functioning in hepatitis B virus carriers.

The authors compared asymptomatic hepatitis B virus carriers and healthy subjects in terms of their psychological state. Participants (43 asymptomatic hepatitis B virus carriers and 43 healthy comparison subjects) completed self-report questionnaires. Psychiatric disorders and psychosocial functioning were evaluated with structured clinical interviews and the Global Assessment of Functioning scale.

Psychiatric morbidity among cancer patients and awareness of illness.

A significant proportion of cancer patients experience psychiatric morbidity. Potential predictors of psychiatric morbidity include patient disease-related factors and factors relating to the patient's environment. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity and the relationship between the clinical or personal factors, especially psychiatric morbidity, and awareness of cancer diagnosis among a group of Turkish cancer patients.

[Psychiatric disorders in cancer patients and associated factors].

Objective: There is a high prevalence of psychiatric disorders, especially depression and anxiety, among cancer patients. If they are left untreated, especially depressive disorders, they may result in poor treatment compliance, increased hospital stays and reduced quality of life. The aim of this prospective study is to investigate the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity among cancer patients and the factors that predict psychiatric morbidity.