First episode psychosis: register-based study of comorbid psychiatric disorders and medications before and after.

Comorbid psychiatric disorders are common in first episode psychosis. We investigated comorbid disorders before, at, and after a first hospital-treated psychosis in a naturalistic nation-wide cohort (n = 2091) with a first psychosis hospitalization between 2007 and 2011, and at ages between 16 and 25. Swedish population registers were used to identify the cohort and to collect data on diagnoses at hospitalizations and medications.

Substance use disorders before, at and after first episode psychosis hospitalizations in a young national Swedish cohort.

Background: Comorbidity between Substance use disorders (SUD) and psychotic disorders is common but the temporal relation of the first episodes of SUD and psychosis and how it affects the disorders has not been extensively investigated.

Methods: A nation-wide cohort (n = 2494) with a first hospitalization for psychosis at ages between 16 and 25 was identified. Psychiatric hospitalizations were followed from birth until up to 5 years after the first psychosis hospitalization.

First episode psychosis and comorbid ADHD, autism and intellectual disability.

Background: Comorbidity between neurodevelopmental disorders and psychotic disorders is common, but little is known about how neurodevelopmental disorders influence the presentation and outcome of first episode psychosis.

Methods: A nation-wide cohort (n = 2091) with a first hospitalization for psychosis between 2007-2011 and at ages between 16-25 at intake was identified from Swedish population registries. Comorbid diagnoses of neurodevelopmental disorders were identified at first psychosis hospitalization and for ADHD also by dispensations of psychostimulants before the first psychosis hospitalization.

Criteria for self-reported quantitative sleep characteristics of individuals who sought medical help for disturbed sleep - a survey of a representative sample of the Swedish population.

Background: The public often seeks rule-of-thumb criteria for good or poor sleep, with a particular emphasis on sleep duration, sleep latency, and the number of awakenings each night. However, very few criteria are available.

Aim: The present study sought to identify such criteria.

Medication, hospitalizations and mortality in 5 years after first-episode psychosis in a Swedish nation-wide cohort.

Aim: To investigate medication, rehospitalizations and mortality after first-episode hospital-treated psychosis.

Methods: A population-based nation-wide cohort (n = 2488) with a first hospitalization for psychosis at ages between 16 and 25 was identified. Cases were followed for up to 5 years after the first psychosis hospitalization with regard to mortality, hospitalizations and dispensations of antipsychotics and benzodiazepines.

Impact of group treatment for insomnia on daytime symptomatology: Analyses from a randomized controlled trial in primary care.

Background: People typically seek primary health care for daytime symptoms and impairments they experience in association with their insomnia. However, few studies address the question of whether insomnia treatment can improve such symptomatology.

Objectives: To investigate whether a nurse-led group treatment program, based on the techniques of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), improved daytime symptomatology in primary care patients with insomnia.

Improving insomnia in primary care patients: A randomized controlled trial of nurse-led group treatment.

Background: Insomnia is a common health problem, and most people who seek help for insomnia consult primary care. In primary care, insomnia treatment typically consists of hypnotic drugs, although cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia is the recommended treatment. However, such treatment is currently available to few primary care patients.

Factors associated with self-reported need for treatment of sleeping difficulties: a survey of the general Swedish population.

Objective: This study aims to investigate factors associated with the self-reported need for treatment of sleeping difficulties in the general population.

Methods: This study consisted of a cross-sectional telephone survey of 1550 people randomly selected from the total population of Sweden. The survey, conducted by the Swedish national statistics agency, Statistics Sweden, was completed by 1115 people aged 18-85 years.

Altered circadian clock gene expression in patients with schizophrenia.

Impaired circadian rhythmicity has been reported in several psychiatric disorders. Schizophrenia is commonly associated with aberrant sleep-wake cycles and insomnia. It is not known if schizophrenia is associated with disturbances in molecular rhythmicity.

The effect of the work environment on future sleep disturbances: a systematic review.

Workers often attribute poor sleep to factors at work. Despite the large number of workers with sleep disturbances, there is a lack of consensus on the relationship between the work environment and sleep. The purpose of this systematic review therefore was to conduct a comprehensive evaluation.

Insomnia in sweden: a population-based survey.

Aims. Estimate the prevalence of insomnia and examine effects of sex, age, health problems, sleep duration, need for treatment, and usage of sleep medication. Methods.

Activation of kynurenine pathway in ex vivo fibroblasts from patients with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia: cytokine challenge increases production of 3-hydroxykynurenine.

Accumulating data suggest a causative link between immune stimulation, disturbed metabolism of tryptophan, and pathogenesis of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. The goal of this study was to examine the production of kynurenic acid (KYNA), 3-hydroxykynurenine (3-HK) and the expression of kynurenine pathway enzymes involved in their synthesis and metabolism in cultured skin fibroblasts obtained from patients with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or from healthy control individuals. The assessment was performed under basal conditions or following treatment with interferon (IFN)-γ, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, or their combinations, in cells exposed to exogenous kynurenine.

An item response theory evaluation of three depression assessment instruments in a clinical sample.

Background: This study investigates whether an analysis, based on Item Response Theory (IRT), can be used for initial evaluations of depression assessment instruments in a limited patient sample from an affective disorder outpatient clinic, with the aim to finding major advantages and deficiencies of the instruments.

Methods: Three depression assessment instruments, the depression module from the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9), the depression subscale of Affective Self Rating Scale (AS-18-D) and the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) were evaluated in a sample of 61 patients with affective disorder diagnoses, mainly bipolar disorder. A '3- step IRT strategy' was used.

Valproic acid phase shifts the rhythmic expression of Period2::Luciferase.

Valproic acid (VPA) is an anticonvulsant used to treat bipolar disorder, a psychiatric disease associated with disturbances in circadian rhythmicity. Little is known about how VPA affects circadian rhythms. The authors cultured tissues containing the master brain pacemaker for circadian rhythmicity, the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN), and skin fibroblasts from transgenic PERIOD2::LUCIFERASE (PER2::LUC) mice and studied the effect of VPA on the circadian PER2::LUC rhythm by measuring bioluminescence.

Identifying predictors for good lithium response - a retrospective analysis of 100 patients with bipolar disorder using a life-charting method.

Purpose: Our aim was to investigate bipolar patients in order to test the validity of various outcome measures and to identify prognostic predictors for pharmacological treatment.

Material And Method: One hundred patients were interviewed using a computerized life-charting program in a descriptive, retrospective analysis. The concept "Burden of illness" was defined as a combination of severity and duration of episodes.

Is usage of hypnotics associated with mortality?

Objective: To investigate the influence of hypnotic usage on all-cause and cause-specific mortality in a middle-aged population.

Methods: A cohort of 1750 men and 1773 women aged 30-65 years who responded to a postal questionnaire in 1983. The questionnaire included questions about hypnotic usage, sleep duration, sleep complaints, medical conditions, depression, demographic and life style variables.

Restless legs syndrome and its relationship with insomnia symptoms and daytime distress: epidemiological survey in Sweden.

To investigate prevalence estimates of restless legs syndrome (RLS) in relation to insomnia complaints and daytime distress a questionnaire was sent to a randomly selected sample of 1962 inhabitants of Uppsala, Sweden. The questionnaire included questions about sleep and daytime distress and the standardized four-question set for epidemiological settings recommended by the International RLS Study Group. A positive diagnosis of RLS was established in 18.

Restless legs symptoms with sleepiness in relation to mortality: 20-year follow-up study of a middle-aged Swedish population.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to investigate restless legs symptoms with concomitant daytime sleepiness as a risk factor for mortality in a middle-aged population.

Methods: A cohort of 5102 subjects aged 30-65 years in mid-Sweden who responded to a postal questionnaire in 1983 was followed up. The questionnaire included questions about restless legs symptoms, daytime sleepiness, demographic and lifestyle variables, sleep habits, medical conditions and depression.

Development and validation of the Affective Self Rating Scale for manic, depressive, and mixed affective states.

Most rating scales for affective disorders measure either depressive or hypomanic/manic symptoms and there are few scales for hypomania/mania in a self-rating format. We wanted to develop and validate a self-rating scale for comprehensive assessment of depressive, manic/hypomanic and mixed affective states. We developed an 18-item self-rating scale starting with the DSM-IV criteria for depression and mania, with subscales for depression and mania.

The Minimal Insomnia Symptom Scale (MISS): a brief measure of sleeping difficulties.

To evaluate basic psychometric properties and obtain normative values for a novel 3-item scale, the Minimal Insomnia Symptom Scale (MISS), a sleep questionnaire was sent out to a randomly selected sample of the general population, aged 20-64 years. Responses were obtained from 1075 subjects corresponding to a response rate of 78%. Results showed that MISS possessed satisfactory reliability and validity.

High incidence of diabetes in men with sleep complaints or short sleep duration: a 12-year follow-up study of a middle-aged population.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the possible relationship among sleep complaints, sleep duration, and the development of diabetes prospectively over a 12-year period in a middle-aged Swedish population.

Research Design And Methods: A random sample of 2,663 subjects aged 45-65 years living in mid-Sweden were sent a postal questionnaire including questions about sleep complaints, sleep duration, sociodemographic characteristics, behavioral risk factors, medical conditions, and depression (response rate 70.2%).