Caregiver burden after stroke: a 10-year follow-up study of Polish caregivers for stroke patients.

Background: A long-term assessment of stroke outcomes from the perspectives of patients and their caregivers is important for optimising long-term post-stroke care. The extended effects of stroke caregiving, particularly caregiver burden beyond 5 years since stroke, remain to be determined. Hence, this study aimed to determine caregiver burden at 10 years after stroke, compare the burden severity at 10 years with its levels at 5 years and 6 months after stroke, and identify predictors of the burden severity at 10 years post-stroke.

Neuropsychological exponents for the driving ability in remitted bipolar patients.

Background: Bipolar disorder (BD) is associated with cognitive deficits regardless of the phase of the disease. Medications used in treatment are an additional factor that may affect cognitive performance. Poor cognitive performance can significantly affect a patient's ability to drive.

The influence of Nordic walking on the general functioning and cognitive performance of patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Purpose: Most studies show that physical activity (PA) can inhibit the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This research aimed to investigate the effect of 3-month moderate PA on the general functioning and cognitive abilities of AD patients.

Methods: The study included 32 patients with mild or moderate AD who scored 11-23 points in Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).

The pattern of pharmacological treatment of bipolar patients discharged from psychiatric units in Poland.

Background: The concomitant use of two or more mood stabilisers (MS), second-generation antipsychotics (SGA), lamotrigine as well as antidepressants, is frequently reported in the treatment of bipolar patients The aim of this study was to investigate the pattern of pharmacological treatment with special regard to polypharmacy defined as two or more psychiatric drugs taken at the same time in the same patients with bipolar disorder discharged from psychiatric units in Poland.

Method: Pharmacotherapy of 127 consecutive patients (57 females and 70 males) with an ICD-10 diagnosis of bipolar disorder (BP) at the point of discharge from five psychiatric regional hospitals/units in Poland, was evaluated in 2015/2016 on the basis of medical files. The effect of treatment on mental status at discharge was examined using the Clinical Global Impression-Improvement scale (CGI-I).

Depressive symptoms in stroke patients treated and non-treated with intravenous thrombolytic therapy: a 1-year follow-up study.

Introduction: This is a prospective study, first to compare the frequency of depressive symptoms in stroke survivors treated, and non-treated, with intravenous thrombolysis and second, to explore relationships between post-stroke depression (PSD) and stroke treatment modalities, taking into account other possible determinants of PSD, including post-traumatic stress symptoms.

Methods: Groups of 73 thrombolysed and 73 non-thrombolysed patients matched for age and gender were examined at 3 and 12 months after discharge. PSD was assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory.

Is Venlafaxine More Effective than Escitalopram and Nortriptyline in the Management of Painful Symptoms in Patients with Major Depression?

Background: Conflicting data regarding the efficacy of antidepressants of different mechanism of action on unexplained painful physical symptoms (UPPS) in depression have been published so far.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the impact of escitalopram (ESC), nortriptyline (NOR), and venlafaxine (VEN) on UPPS in patients with major depression.

Materials And Methods: Sixty patients, participants in the GENDEP study, with a diagnosis of depression according to the ICD-10 criteria were randomly assigned to treatment with ESC (10-30 mg, mean dose 15.

A Study of Biological Rhythm Disturbances in Polish Remitted Bipolar Patients using the BRIAN, CSM, and SWPAQ Scales.

Background/aims: The Biological Rhythms Interview of Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (BRIAN) is a novel tool allowing for a complex assessment of biological rhythms. We compared patients with bipolar disorder (BD) and healthy control subjects (HC) using the Polish version of the BRIAN scale.

Method: Fifty-four remitted BD patients (17 males and 37 females aged 52 ± 13 years) and 54 healthy control subjects (25 males and 29 females aged 42 ± 14 years) were studied.

The Biological Rhythms Interview of Assessment in Neuropsychiatry in patients with bipolar disorder: correlation with affective temperaments and schizotypy.

Objective:: To assess the relationship of biological rhythms, evaluated by the Biological Rhythms Interview of Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (BRIAN), with affective temperaments and schizotypy.

Methods:: The BRIAN assessment, along with the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego-Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A) and the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory for Feelings and Experiences (O-LIFE), was administered to 54 patients with remitted bipolar disorder (BD) and 54 healthy control (HC) subjects.

Results:: The TEMPS-A cyclothymic temperament correlated positively and the hyperthymic temperament correlated negatively with BRIAN scores in both the BD and HC groups, although the correlation was stronger in BD subjects.

Clinical recovery and health-related quality of life in ischaemic stroke survivors receiving thrombolytic treatment: a 1-year follow-up study.

The aims of this study were to examine prospectively the course of neurological and functional recovery and health related quality of life (HRQoL) in ischaemic stroke patients after intravenous thrombolysis, to assess the 1-year outcome and to determine the early predictors. A group of 53 consecutive patients were assessed at admission to the acute stroke unit (T0), before their discharge (T1), and at 3 (T2) and 12 (T3) months after hospital discharge. The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), the Barthel Index (BI) and the Stroke Specific Quality of Life Scale (SSQoL) were used to evaluate stroke severity, functional disability and health related quality of life (HRQoL).

Unexplained Painful Physical Symptoms in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder: Prevalence, Pathophysiology and Management.

Patients with major depression often report pain. In this article, we review the current literature regarding the prevalence and consequences, as well as the pathophysiology, of unexplained painful physical symptoms (UPPS) in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). UPPS are experienced by approximately two-thirds of depressed patients.

Burden in caregivers of long-term stroke survivors: Prevalence and determinants at 6 months and 5 years after stroke.

Objectives: To assess the prevalence of considerable burden among caregivers of stroke survivors at 6 months (Time 1) and 5 years after stroke (Time 2), to analyse changes in burden severity over time and to identify factors associated with the burden.

Methods: Eighty eight patient/caregiver pairs were assessed. Caregiver burden was measured with the Caregiver Burden Scale.

Comparison of the effects of escitalopram and nortriptyline on painful symptoms in patients with major depression.

Objective: Unexplained painful physical symptoms are commonly reported by depressed patients. The evidence suggests that dual-action antidepressants are potent in relieving pain in depression. However, a direct comparison of the effects of selective serotonergic and selective noradrenergic antidepressants on painful symptoms has not been investigated so far.

[Social functioning and quality of life in schizophrenia patients --relationship with symptomatic remission and duration of illness].

Aim: The assessment of social functioning and subjective quality of life in relation to symptomatic remission in schizophrenia patients after a first psychiatric hospitalization, as well as the analysis of connection between intensity of psychopathological symptoms and the level of functioning and quality of life, taking into account the status of remission and duration of illness.

Methods: Sixty-four patients were assessed, at 13 months (1st examination) and at mean 8 years (2nd examination) after the first hospitalization, and compared with two control groups of healthy persons. The following scales were used: Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Social Functioning Scale (SFS), WHO Quality of Life (WHOQoL--Bref) scale and Global Assessment Scale (GAS).

The prevalence of antipsychotic polypharmacy in schizophrenic patients discharged from psychiatric units in Poland.

Background: The term antipsychotic polypharmacy (APP) refers to the concurrent use of two or more antipsychotic drugs in schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to investigate the range of APP in schizophrenic patients discharged from psychiatric units in Poland, and to determine its demographical and clinical correlates.

Methods: Data on the pharmacological treatment of 207 patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, discharged from six psychiatric hospitals from September-December 2011 were recorded by experienced psychiatrists.

[Polish version of Comprehensive Assessment of At Risk Mental States (CAARMS)--the description of the method].

The first psychotic episode is usually preceded by the decline in functioning as well as the occurrence of symptoms, which due to low intensity or short duration do not fulfil the criteria allowing for the recognition of delusions or hallucinations. Early intervention at this stage may prevent the development of psychosis or its onset. It is thus necessary to implement clearly established criteria, which will allow for the identification of patients with a high risk for developing psychosis.

Creative thinking deficits in patients with schizophrenia: neurocognitive correlates.

The aim of this study was to investigate selected measures of creativity in schizophrenic patients and their relationship with neurocognitive executive functions Forty-three inpatients with paranoid schizophrenia who were in symptomatic remission (a total of 60) and 45 healthy control participants were included. Creativity was assessed using the Barron-Welsh Art Scale (BWAS) and the inventiveness part of the Berlin Intelligence Structure Test (BIS). Executive functions were measured by means of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST).

[Facial emotion perception in schizophrenia: relationships with cognitive and social functioning].

Unlabelled: Evidence suggests that facial emotion recognition is disturbed in schizophrenic patients however its nature has not been elucidated. Affect recognition is an important aspect of psychosocial functioning.

Aim: In this study we assessed recognition of facial emotional expression in schizophrenic patients and its relationship with selected clinical and neuropsychological variables as well as with social functioning.

[The anatomy of depression in light of evidence from neuroimaging studies].

The introduction of structural and functional neuroimaging methods has significantly improved our knowledge ofneurobiological basis of psychiatric disorders. The aim of this review is to present the results of studies using magnetic resonance imagining and positron emission tomography in affective disorders. The most consistently reported structural abnormalities in major depressive disorder include a reduced volume of the prefrontal lobe, (orbitofrontal, dorsolateral and anterior cingulate cortex) hippopocampus and amygdala.

[Psychopathology and creativity].

In this paper, a concept has been presented stating that the process of creativity may be connected with psychopathological features such as mood disorders, mainly bipolar, and psychosis-like thought abnormalities. Biographic studies point to a more frequent occurrence of affective disorders in creative subjects and members of their families. There is also data concerning the occurrence of schizophrenia in the families of prominent persons.

[Depression and pain: novel clinical, neurobiological and psychopharmacological data].

Epidemiological studies confirm frequent appearance of pain symptoms in depressive patients and a marked prevalence of depression in pain conditions. These observations seem to point at a close intertwining between mood regulation and pain perception. In the pathogenesis of both depression and pain symptoms, an important role has been attributed to disturbances of serotonergic and noradrenergic neurotransmission as well as to neuropeptides such as opioids and substance P.

Post-stroke quality of life and depression.

Background: Studies on the determinants of the quality of life (QOL) after stroke bring differing results depending on the applied concept of QOL. This may lead to confusion about the contribution of various factors to the post-stroke QOL.

Objective: The aim of the study was: (i) to investigate functional and psychological QOL in the individuals after the first ischemic stroke; (ii) to identify the most important correlates of QOL; and (iii) to examine the significance of depression among the other possible predictors of QOL.

[Studies of cerebral blood flow in metabolism in depression using positron emission tomography (PET)].

Investigations of cerebral blood flow and metabolism provide interesting data concerning specific brain regions involved in depression. The objective of this paper is to present to Polish readers results of studies using PET in patients with depression. Provocation of transient sadness in healthy subjects during clinical experiments was associated with increase of metabolism in limbic and paralimbic regions and decreased metabolism in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.