High-dose antipsychotic use in schizophrenia: a comparison between the 2001 and 2004 Research on East Asia Psychotropic Prescription (REAP) studies.

Aims: We aimed to examine the frequency of high-dose (defined as mean chlorpromazine mg equivalent doses above 1000) antipsychotic prescriptions in schizophrenia and their clinical correlates in the context of a comparison between studies in 2001 and 2004 within six East Asian countries and territories.

Methods: Prescriptions of high-dose antipsychotic for a sample of 2136 patients with schizophrenia from six countries and territories (mainland China, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore) were evaluated in 2004 and compared with data obtained for 2399 patients in 2001.

Results: Overall, the comparison between 2001 and 2004 showed a significant decrease in high-dose antipsychotic use from 17.

[The birth of biological therapy in Hungary: the story of László Meduna's first patient receiving convulsive therapy].

Convulsive treatment was introduced to psychiatry by László Meduna, a Hungarian neuropsychiatrist. In his autobiography, Meduna gave a detailed description of his first patient who underwent convulsive therapy. According to Meduna's recollections, this patient was L.

Emotional incontinence and executive function in ischemic stroke: a case-controlled study.

Frontal and basal ganglia infarcts and executive dysfunction are thought to be involved in the pathophysiology of poststroke emotional incontinence (PSEI). The study examined whether patients with PSEI have more frontal and/or basal ganglia infarcts and impairment in executive function. A total of 516 Chinese patients with acute ischemic stroke consecutively admitted to the acute stroke unit of a university-affiliated regional hospital in Hong Kong were screened for PSEI 3 months after the index stroke.

The prevalence of insomnia, its sociodemographic and clinical correlates, and treatment in rural and urban regions of Beijing, China: a general population-based survey.

Study Objectives: To determine the prevalence of insomnia, its sociodemographic and clinical correlates, and treatment patterns in Chinese people.

Design: A total of 5,926 subjects were randomly selected in the urban and rural areas of Beijing and interviewed using standardized assessment tools. Basic sociodemographic and clinical data were also collected.

Smoking and psychiatric disorders in the rural and urban regions of Beijing, China: a community-based survey.

Background: In China, there is limited information on smoking and its socio-demographic correlates in general, and in psychiatric patients in particular. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of lifetime, current mild, and heavy smoking, the socio-demographic correlates of current smoking, and its relationship with psychiatric disorders in the Beijing municipality, China.

Methods: A total of 5926 subjects who met the study's entry criteria were randomly selected from the urban and rural areas of Beijing and interviewed using standardized assessment tools, including the collection of basic socio-demographic and clinical data.

Schizophrenia with prominent catatonic features ('catatonic schizophrenia') III. Latent class analysis of the catatonic syndrome.

No reports have yet been published on catatonia using latent class analysis (LCA). This study applied LCA to a large, diagnostically homogenous sample of patients with chronic schizophrenia who also presented with catatonic symptoms. A random sample of 225 Chinese inpatients with DSM-IV schizophrenia was selected from the long-stay wards of a psychiatric hospital.

Knowledge of and attitude toward electroconvulsive therapy: a survey of Hungarian anesthesiology residents.

Aim: To assess the knowledge of and attitudes toward electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in Hungarian anesthesiology residents.

Method: A self-administered questionnaire comprising 39 questions compiled by the authors.

Results: Of the 82 sophomore residents who completed the questionnaire, 29 have administered ECT.

Long-term use of mood stabilizers and its impact on the quality of life of chinese patients with schizophrenia.

Objectives: To date, no studies have investigated the prescription patterns of mood stabilizers (MSs) in Chinese patients with schizophrenia. This study examined the frequency and sociodemographic and clinical correlates of MS prescription for outpatients with schizophrenia in Hong Kong (HK) and Beijing (BJ), China.

Methods: Five hundred five clinically stable outpatients with schizophrenia were randomly selected and interviewed in HK and BJ using standardized assessment instruments.

Prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of major depressive episode in rural and urban areas of Beijing, China.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the 12-month and lifetime prevalence of major depressive episode (MDE) and their socio-demographic correlates in both the urban and rural areas of Beijing, China.

Methods: A total of 4767 adults were randomly selected and interviewed in Beijing using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI 1.0).

Low doses of antipsychotic drugs for hospitalized schizophrenia patients in East Asia: 2004 vs. 2001.

We test the hypothesis of increasing prevalence of low-dose antipsychotic use (300 mg/d chlorpromazine-equivalent) in East Asia and examine clinical correlates of conservative dosing. Rates of low-dose antipsychotic prescription were determined for 4535 patients with DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia in six East Asian countries and territories, with comparisons analysed for 2004 vs. 2001.

Modified and unmodified electroconvulsive therapy: a comparison of attitudes between psychiatrists in Beijing and Hong Kong.

Objective: Unmodified electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is still widely practiced in many psychiatric institutions in China. The study reported herein aimed to explore the attitudes of psychiatrists in Beijing toward unmodified and modified ECT and compare them with those of psychiatrists in Hong Kong, where only modified ECT has been used during the past 40 years.

Method: One hundred five psychiatrists of a university-affiliated psychiatric hospital in Beijing and all psychiatrists (n = 238) currently practicing in Hong Kong were invited to complete a questionnaire exploring their attitudes toward unmodified and modified ECT.

Survey of referrals to electroconvulsive therapy in Hungary.

Background: The diagnostic distribution of patients treated with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in Hungary is significantly different from that in Western Europe or the USA. In Hungary most of the treated patients are diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Aim: To analyze the practice of referring patients for ECT in Hungary.

Prospective memory and its correlates and predictors in schizophrenia: an extension of previous findings.

Background: Prospective memory (PM) is the ability to remember to do something in the future without explicit prompts. Extending the number of subjects and the scope of our previously published study, this investigation examined the relationship between PM and socio-demographic and clinical factors, activities of daily living (ADL) and frontal lobe functions in patients with chronic schizophrenia.

Methods: One hundred and ten Chinese schizophrenia patients, 60 from the previous study and 50 additional patients recruited for this study, and 110 matched healthy comparison subjects (HC) formed the study sample.

The beginnings of modern psychiatric treatment in Europe. Lessons from an early account of convulsive therapy.

Convulsive therapy (COT) is a major European contribution to the psychiatric armamentarium and biological psychiatry. COT was introduced in psychiatry by László Meduna, a Hungarian neuropsychiatrist. All subsequent publications about the first patient treated with COT, Zoltán L (ZL), were based on Meduna's papers and autobiography.

Prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of schizophrenia in Beijing, China.

Objective: There has been no large-scale survey of schizophrenia in China involving both rural and urban areas using standardized assessment tools and diagnostic criteria. This study aimed to determine the lifetime prevalence of schizophrenia and its socio-demographic correlates in Beijing, China.

Methods: A total of 5926 subjects were randomly selected in Beijing and interviewed using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI 1.

Examining item bias in the anxiety subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) is a widely used screening instrument for depression and anxiety in medically compromised patients. The purpose of this study was to examine the differential item functioning (DIF) of the anxiety subscale of the HADA (HADS-A). A research assistant administered the HADS-A to 166 Chinese patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who were consecutively admitted to a rehabilitation hospital.

Impact of the priority follow-up system on quality of life in Chinese schizophrenia patients.

Objective: Priority follow up (PFU) is a particular aspect of mental health care in Hong Kong whereby psychiatric patients with a history of violence or suspected proclivity to violence are identified and their management is closely monitored. The aim of the present study was to determine the impact of a PFU system on quality of life (QOL) in schizophrenia patients.

Methods: Two hundred and sixty-seven clinically stable outpatients with schizophrenia were randomly selected and interviewed in Hong Kong using standardized assessment instruments that covered their clinical condition and QOL.

Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of 3129 heroin users in the first methadone maintenance treatment clinic in China.

Background: This study aimed to determine the characteristics of heroin users in the first methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) clinic in China.

Methods: In a retrospective chart review, the notes of 3127 heroin users who received both detoxification and MMT at the clinic were analyzed. Their socio-demographic and clinical data were collected, and the frequency of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Hepatitis C virus (HCV), and syphilis infections was investigated.

Regressive and intensive methods of electroconvulsive therapy: a brief historical note.

In the 1940s, regressive and intensive methods were developed to increase the therapeutic effects of electroconvulsive therapy. The diagnostic indications, methods of application, effectiveness, complications, and mortality of these techniques are briefly discussed here. An attempt is also made to evaluate the risks and benefits of these methods from a historical perspective.

Impact of sociodemographic and clinical factors on subjective quality of life in schizophrenia patients in Beijing, China.

The impact of sociodemographic and clinical factors on subjective quality of life (SQOL) in Chinese schizophrenia outpatients was explored. Randomly selected subjects with schizophrenia (N = 273) were assessed with respect to their sociodemographic, clinical characteristics, and SQOL. Compared with the Chinese general population, patients had significantly lower scores in the physical and social SQOL domains.

Subjective quality of life in outpatients with schizophrenia in Hong Kong and Beijing: relationship to socio-demographic and clinical factors.

Purpose: This study compared the subjective quality of life (SQOL) in schizophrenia patients living with their families in Hong Kong (HK) and Beijing (BJ) and explored the relationship between SQOL and basic socio-demographic and clinical factors.

Materials And Methods: Two hundred and sixty-four clinically stable outpatients with schizophrenia were randomly selected in HK and 258 counterparts matched according to age, sex, age at onset, and length of illness in BJ. SQOL and psychiatric status were assessed with standard rating instruments.

Antipsychotic prescription patterns in outpatient settings: 24-month results from the Intercontinental Schizophrenia Outpatient Health Outcomes (IC-SOHO) study.

This report describes antipsychotic prescription patterns for outpatients with schizophrenia prescribed olanzapine (n=3,222), clozapine (n=236), risperidone (n=1,117), quetiapine (n=189) or haloperidol (n=256) monotherapy at study entry and treated in a naturalistic, clinical practice setting over 24 months. Predictive factors associated with remaining on monotherapy were also identified. Olanzapine patients had significantly greater odds of remaining on their initial monotherapy compared to other treatment groups, while clozapine or risperidone recipients were more likely to remain on monotherapy, compared to haloperidol patients.

Rating catatonia in patients with chronic schizophrenia: Rasch analysis of the Bush-Francis Catatonia Rating Scale.

Background: Catatonic signs and symptoms are frequently observed in patients with chronic schizophrenia. Clinical surveys have suggested that the composition of catatonic syndrome occurring in chronic schizophrenia may be different from what is found in acute psychiatric disorders or medical conditions. Consequently, this patient population may need tailor-made rating instruments for catatonia.

The detection and measurement of catatonia.

Catatonia is a complex neuropsychiatric syndrome that occurs with primary psychiatric disorders or secondary to general medical conditions. Catatonia is often neglected when screening and examining psychiatric patients. Undiagnosed catatonia can increase morbidity and mortality, illustrating the need to effectively screen patients for presence of catatonia as well as their response to treatment.