Applicability of the Chinese version of the Personal and Social Performance scale in patients with severe mental disorders.

Introduction: This study was designed to determine the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Personal and Social Performance scale (PSP-CHN) and assess the applicability of using the PSP-CHN in patients with severe mental disorders.

Methods: A total of 285 outpatients with severe mental disorders, 220 with schizophrenia and 65 with major depressive disorder, were enrolled into the study. Both diagnoses were made using the DSM-IV.

Psychometric Properties of Prodromal Questionnaire-Brief Version among Chinese Help-Seeking Individuals.

Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ) and Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes (SIPS) have been used as a two-stage process for identifying subjects at clinical high risk (CHR) of psychosis. The Prodromal Questionnaire-Brief version (PQ-B) contains 21 items derived from the PQ. The present study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of PQ-B in a Chinese help-seeking outpatient sample and to explore which items can better predict CHR diagnosis by SIPS and future transition to psychosis.

The peripheral messenger RNA expression of glycogen synthase kinase-3β genes in Alzheimer's disease patients: a preliminary study.

Objective: To explore the peripheral leucocytic messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) gene in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients.

Methods: Using TaqMan relative quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, we analyzed leucocytic gene expression of GSK-3β in 48 AD patients and 49 healthy controls. Clinical data of AD patients were also collected.

Hyperuricemia accompanied with changes in the retinal microcirculation in a Chinese high-risk population for diabetes.

Objective: To investigate the association of retinal vascular calibers with hyperuricemia in a middle-aged and elderly population.

Methods: A cross-sectional design was applied in this study and 869 participants aged =40 years from a high-risk group for diabetes were recruited. All participants received the anthropometrical measurements and laboratory tests.

Epidemiological investigation on Wenchuan earthquake-struck trauma patients admitted to two hospitals of Chongqing.

Objective: To study epidemiological characteristics and influential factors of in-hospital patients struck by the Wenchuan earthquake disaster.

Methods: The clinical data of 196 cases were collected from 2 hospitals of Chongqing city, including age, sex, occupation, injury site, dwelling and injury severity score.

Results: In this series, 31.