Falls Prevention and Quality of Life Improvement by Square Stepping Exercise in People with Parkinson's Disease: Project Report.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder that affects physical, psychological, and social quality of life. Square Stepping Exercise (SSE) is an effective balance training program to prevent falls and to stimulate cognitive function in the elderly; however, no study has analyzed the effect of SSE in people with PD. The main objective is to investigate whether the application of SSE is safe, applicable, and can improve balance, and is effective in preventing falls, improving cognitive and psychological aspects and thus maximize quality of life in people with PD.

Attitudes towards change mediate the effect of dissociation on psychopathological outcome in the treatment of eating disorders.

Objectives: The study aimed to examine whether dissociation and attitudes towards change were associated with the psychopathology in patients with eating disorders (EDs) at 1-year follow-up.

Method: The study included 110 females with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa (48 and 62 respectively). At the beginning of the study and 1 year later, they were assessed by means of the following questionnaires: Dissociative Experiences Scale, Attitudes Towards Change (ACTA), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, Eating Attitude Test, Bulimic Investigatory Test Edinburgh and Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ).

Detection of alcohol use disorders using the camouflaged CAGE questionnaire in three population groups.

The objective was to evaluate the risk of presenting an alcohol use disorder (AUD) in outpatient psychiatric units and compare it with drug addiction outpatient units and with healthy controls in the same administrative health area. An observational, descriptive, multicenter study was carried out in which a total of 1054 participants were evaluated. Data were obtained by means of the camouflaged CAGE questionnaire, which consists of 4 basic questions camouflaged with 8 other questions about healthy lifestyle habits.

Coping strategies and stress-induced natural killer cell redistribution in women with eating disorders.

Background: Patients with eating disorders (ED) are very sensitive and responsive to psychosocial stress. Stress response includes changes in immune cell distribution and may be modulated by the capability to cope with stressors. Thus, the present study sought to analyze the association between coping strategies and immune response (natural killer [NK] cell redistribution following psychosocial stress) in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) and healthy controls (HC).

Substance use and course of bipolar disorder in an inpatient sample.

Introduction: Patients with bipolar disorder (BD) have a comorbid substance use with high frequency. Our study aims to establish a relationship between substance use and BD, in terms of greater diagnostic difficulty, a worse prognosis and changes in pharmacological prescription.

Methods: The sample consisted of 394 subjects over twenty years were hospitalized with a diagnosis of BD in acute psychiatry unit of a general hospital (10.

Blunted cortisol response to stress in patients with eating disorders: Its association to bulimic features.

Objective: Clinical research on cortisol response to stress in patients with eating disorders has provided controversial and even contradictory results. As this might be the consequence of the inclusion in the studies of heterogeneous clinical populations, 3 highly selected samples were studied.

Methods: Dexamethasone suppression test was performed on 15 restricting anorexia nervosa patients without history of bulimia nervosa (BN), 17 BN patients with normal weight and no history of anorexia nervosa, and 22 healthy controls.

Fluoxetine, topiramate, and combination of both to stabilize eating behavior before bariatric surgery.

Introduction: Pharmacotherapy for the management of obesity is primarily aimed at weight loss, weight loss maintenance and risk reduction (reduction in body fat, risk factors for cardiovascular disease and the incidence of diabetes mellitus). Among drugs that have been evaluated for weight loss include antidepressants (fluoxetine) and antiepileptic (topiramate).

Material And Methods: We analyzed eating behavior and weight loss in a sample of morbid obesity patients before bariatric surgery.

Parental rearing and eating psychopathology.

Introduction: The aim of the study was to identify the relationship between perceived rearing styles and the clinical expression of Eating Disorders (ED).

Methods: One hundred and ninety-six patients diagnosed of an ED and 127 healthy student as controls selected from the Nursing College were evaluated for general psychopathology (STAI, BDI II, RSE), and for abnormal eating attitudes (EAT, EDI-II, BITE). The EMBU (‘my memories of upbringing’) was administered for the assessment of perceived parental rearing styles and was used a questionnaire to assess familial variables.

Neurobiological and clinical variables associated with alcohol abuse in bulimia nervosa.

The study was aimed at analysing the reciprocal relationships of several clinical and neurobiological items in order to predict alcohol misuse in patients with bulimia nervosa (BN). Seventy BN patients and 70 healthy controls were assessed for depression, impulsivity, borderline personality traits and self-defeating behaviours using specific scales; serum cortisol and 24-hour urinary excretion of serotonin and 5-hydroxiindolacetic acid were also assessed. The study confirmed the implications of these clinical factors for alcohol misuse in BN patients, but the results suggested that depressive symptoms and hypercortisolism could lie behind these relationships.

The role of temperament and character in the outcome of depressive mood in eating disorders.

Objectives: The aims were to see which temperament and character dimensions were associated with depression, mainly with its outcome at two-year follow up in eating disorders (EDs).

Methods: Participants (N=151) were 44 Anorexia nervosa (AN), 55 Bulimia nervosa (BN) and 52 Eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS) patients. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Rosenberg Self Esteem Questionnaire (RSE), Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI-2) and Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) were administered.

The role of depression and impulsivity in the psychopathology of bulimia nervosa.

Introduction: The study aimed to analyze the role of depression and impulsivity in the psychopathology of bulimia nervosa (BN).

Materials And Methods: Seventy female patients with DSM-IV BN, purging subtype, were assessed for eating-related symptoms, body dissatisfaction, affective symptoms, impulsivity, and personality traits. Factor analysis and structural equation modeling methods were used for statistical analysis.

Influence of attitudes towards change and self-directness on dropout in eating disorders: a 2-year follow-up study.

Objective: This study examined dropout-related factors at the Outpatient Eating Disorders Treatment Programme.

Method: One hundred ninety-six eating disorders patients following DSM-IV diagnostic criteria that consecutively commenced treatment were recruited and followed up for a 2-year period. A total of 151 patients completed the whole assessment with a set of questionnaires evaluating eating and general psychopathology.

Neurobiological and psychopathological variables related to emotional instability: a study of their capability to discriminate patients with bulimia nervosa from healthy controls.

Objective: To analyze the capability of a set of neurobiological and psychopathological variables to discriminate bulimia nervosa (BN) patients from healthy controls.

Method: Seventy-five female patients with purging BN and 30 healthy controls were compared for psychopathology (impulsivity, borderline personality traits, depressive symptoms and self-defeating personality traits) and neurobiological parameters reflecting hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity (morning serum cortisol before and after dexamethasone) and monoamine activity (24-hour urinary excretion of norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine, and their main metabolites: 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, and homovanillic acid). Furthermore, the relationships between the 2 sets of variables were compared in the 2 samples.

Psychopathology and lymphocyte subsets in patients with bulimia nervosa.

The association between lymphocyte subsets and several psychopathological variables which had proved to be able to affect immune cell count in other conditions was investigated in bulimia nervosa patients. Sixty-seven female bulimia nervosa patients and 29 female healthy controls were assessed for nutritional status (weight, blood cells, lymphocyte subsets, biochemical parameters and hormones) and psychopathology (anxiety, depression, hostility, impulsivity and borderline personality traits). A negative correlation between impulsivity and helper T-cells (CD4(+)) was found in controls.

Bulimia nervosa with history of anorexia nervosa: could the clinical subtype of anorexia have implications for clinical status and treatment response?

Objective: To investigate whether the subtype of anorexia nervosa (AN) could influence the bulimic syndrome and treatment response in bulimia nervosa (BN) patients with a history of AN (BN/AN+).

Method: Seventy female BN patients were assessed for eating disorder, psychopathology and personality, and treated for 6 months.

Results: BN/AN+ patients retained some traits of their past condition: lower body weight, higher perfectionism, and higher reward dependence.

Pattern of birth in restrictive and bulimic eating disorders.

Objective: To determine whether different eating disorders are associated with being born at different points in the year. Based on previous research, it was hypothesised that being born during warm months (June-August) is likely to be associated with restrictive anorexia, rather than bulimic disorders (bulimia nervosa, binge-purge anorexia).

Method: Case notes from 105 eating-disordered women were used to yield dates of birth and diagnosis.

Excessive exercise in anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa: relation to eating characteristics and general psychopathology.

Objective: Excessive exercise is a well-known phenomenon in anorexia nervosa, but less is known about its role in bulimia nervosa. In addition, there is little evidence regarding the psychopathological processes that might act as predisposing, triggering, or maintaining factors for such exercise. The present study examined the presence of excessive exercise in different women with eating disorders, and its psychopathological correlates.