PMA - Zeolite (Clinoptilolite) in the Management of Irritable Bowel Syndrome - a Non-Interventional Study.

Unlabelled: In clinical practice, the treatment of patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) can be very challenging. The aims of the present non-interventional study (NIS) were to investigate the tolerability and efficacy of PMA-zeolite under everyday conditions in patients with diarrheic IBS type (IBS-D) or constipated type (IBS-C) or mixed type (IBS-M).

Methods: To document prospective data on tolerability and symptom frequency in the frame of a nationwide NIS, we recruited 204 IBS patients.

Predictors of Functional Outcome in Patients With Bipolar Disorder: Effects of Cognitive Psychoeducational Group Therapy After 12 Months.

Cognitive deficits are known as a core feature in bipolar disorder. Persisting neurocognitive impairment is associated with low psychosocial functioning. The aim of this study was to identify potential cognitive, clinical and treatment-dependent predictors for functional impairment, symptom severity and early recurrence in bipolar patients, as well as to analyze neurocognitive performance compared to healthy controls.

Awareness of olfactory dysfunction in Parkinson's disease.

Objective: Olfactory impairment is a very common symptom in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, individuals often overestimate their ability to smell. Hyposmia and metacognitive errors are also related to aging, depression, male gender and cognitive impairment.

Perception of aesthetics and personality traits in orthognathic surgery patients: A comparison of still and moving images.

It is common in practicing orthognathic surgery to evaluate faces with retruded or protruded chins (dysgnathic faces) using photographs. Because motion may alter how the face is perceived, we investigated the perception of faces presented via photographs and videos. Two hundred naïve raters (lay persons, without maxillo facial surgery background) evaluated 12 subjects with varying chin anatomy [so-called skeletal Class I (normal chin), Class II (retruded chin), and Class III (protruded chin)].

Facial esthetics and the assignment of personality traits before and after orthognathic surgery rated on video clips.

Typically, before and after surgical correction faces are assessed on still images by surgeons, orthodontists, the patients, and family members. We hypothesized that judgment of faces in motion and by naïve raters may closer reflect the impact on patients' real life, and the treatment impact on e.g.

Child abuse and neglect in institutional settings, cumulative lifetime traumatization, and psychopathological long-term correlates in adult survivors: The Vienna Institutional Abuse Study.

Child maltreatment (CM) in foster care settings (i.e., institutional abuse, IA) is known to have negative effects on adult survivor's mental health.

Emotion regulation and mental well-being before and six months after bariatric surgery.

Purpose: According to the current state of research, mental health improves due to bariatric surgery. However, improvements in weight and psychosocial aspects often show a gradual decline with time. As emotion regulation (ER) appears to be a key variable in the successful outcome of weight loss treatments, the present study aimed at investigating ER-strategies applied by bariatric surgery candidates pre- and post-surgery and examining interactions between ER, depressive symptoms, health-related quality of life (HrQoL), and post-surgical weight loss.

Assessment of nasalance and nasality in patients with a repaired cleft palate.

In patients with a repaired cleft palate, nasality is typically diagnosed by speech language pathologists. In addition, there are various instruments to objectively diagnose nasalance. To explore the potential of nasalance measurements after cleft palate repair by NasalView, we correlated perceptual nasality and instrumentally measured nasalance of eight speech items and determined the relationship between sensitivity and specificity of the nasalance measures by receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) analyses and AUC (area under the curve) computation for each single test item and specific item groups.

Opioid Maintenance Treatment--A Call for a Joint European Quality Care Approach.

Aims: The aim of this exploratory analysis of European Quality Audit of Opioid Treatment data was to identify areas of improvement for current opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) approaches.

Methods: Factors facilitating treatment entry, retention and refusal were compared between 8 European countries and between OMT patient (OMT-P) and active opioid user (AOU) sample groups. Both groups were divided into those who had never had OMT before (un-experienced OMT-P (n = 573) and AOU (n = 360)) and those who had been maintained at least once prior to this investigation (experienced OMT-P (n = 746) and AOU (n = 377)).

Aspects of social support and disclosure in the context of institutional abuse - long-term impact on mental health.

Background: The psychological sequelae of institutionalized abuse and its long-term consequences has not been systematically documented in existing literature in regarding social support once disclosure has been made. Reporting abuse is crucial, in particular for adult victims of childhood IA within the Catholic Church. Nevertheless, there is ongoing controversy about the benefits of disclosure.

Information preferences regarding cure rates and prognosis of Austrian patients with advanced lung cancer.

Introduction: Due to concerns about patients' wellbeing, open end-of-life communication is associated with reservation. Furthermore, sociocultural differences must be considered. The objective of this pilot study was therefore to investigate the information preferences of Austrian patients regarding cure rates and prognosis.

Resilience and mental health in adult survivors of child abuse associated with the institution of the Austrian Catholic Church.

In recent years, reports of institutional abuse within the Catholic Church have emerged and research on the consequences on mental health is in its beginnings. In this study, we report findings on current mental health and resilience in a sample of adult survivors of institutional abuse (N = 185). We compared 3 groups of survivors that differed regarding their current mental health to investigate aspects of resilience, coping, and disclosure.

Institutional abuse of children in the Austrian Catholic Church: types of abuse and impact on adult survivors' current mental health.

The aim of this study was to explore the nature and dimensions of institutional child abuse (IA) by the Austrian Catholic Church and to investigate the current mental health of adult survivors. Data were collected in two steps. First, documents of 448 adult survivors of IA (M=55.

Lessons learned from a comparison of evidence-based research in pregnant opioid-dependent women.

Objectives: Lessons learned in research and treatment of opioid dependence demonstrate the need to include pregnant women in clinical trials.

Methods: Two double-blind, double-dummy, randomized controlled trials (Pilot study, European sample(†) of MOTHER-trial) comparing buprenorphine and methadone in opioid-dependent pregnant women were conducted. In both studies, participants received voucher-based incentives for attendance and completion of study assessments.

Influence of site differences between urban and rural American and Central European opioid-dependent pregnant women and neonatal outcome characteristics.

Background: Multi-center trials enable the recruitment of larger study samples, although results might be influenced by site-specific factors.

Methods: Site differences of a multi-center prospective double-blind, double-dummy randomized controlled trial (7 centers: Central Europe (Vienna)/USA (3 urban/3 rural centers)) comparing safety and efficacy of methadone and buprenorphine in pregnant opioid-dependent women and their neonates.

Results: Urban US women had the highest rate of concomitant opioid (p = 0.

Are male neonates more vulnerable to neonatal abstinence syndrome than female neonates?

Background: Prior studies have shown an increased vulnerability among males to adverse outcomes during the postnatal period. Most children exposed to opioids and other medications in utero develop neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), yet individual predisposition for NAS is poorly understood.

Objective: This investigation examined the role of neonatal sex in the postnatal period for neonates exposed to standardized opioid maintenance treatment in utero with a focus on NAS regarding severity, medication requirements, and duration.

Impact of treatment approach on maternal and neonatal outcome in pregnant opioid-maintained women.

Objective: The objective of this study is to compare maternal and neonatal outcome of opioid-dependent women maintained on buprenorphine or methadone throughout pregnancy in a randomized double-blind double-dummy clinical trial (CT) with a comparison group undergoing a structured standard protocol (SP) at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria.

Methods: One hundred and fourteen subjects were included in the analysis, with 77 in SP (n = 51 methadone, n = 26 buprenorphine), and 37 in CT (n = 19 methadone, n = 18 buprenorphine), comparing maternal concomitant consumption during third trimester, demographic birth data, duration of treatment for neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), morphine dose for NAS treatment and length of hospital stay (LOS).

Results: Both study groups yielded healthy neonates with no significant demographic differences and equivalently low rates of positive maternal urine toxicologies.

Randomized controlled trials in pregnancy: scientific and ethical aspects. Exposure to different opioid medications during pregnancy in an intra-individual comparison.

Background: Chronic medical conditions such as opioid dependence require evidence-based treatment recommendations. However, pregnant women are under-represented in clinical trials. We describe the first within-subject comparison of maternal and neonatal outcomes for methadone- versus buprenorphine-exposed pregnancies.

Association between prenatal tobacco exposure and outcome of neonates born to opioid-maintained mothers. Implications for treatment.

Background: Prenatal nicotine exposure is associated with increased neonatal mortality, low birth weight, and smaller head circumference. Opioid-dependent pregnant women show a particularly high prevalence of tobacco smoking and are at greater risk for additional adverse events. However, little is known about the impact of tobacco smoking on opioid-maintained pregnant women and neonatal outcomes.

[The relationship between tinnitus, personality, and depression].

Objective: This study examines the relationship between personality characteristics, depression symptoms, demographic profile, and the amount of the tinnitus-related distress experienced.

Method: 121 patients suffering from tinnitus were examined by unique testing in a tinnitus-practice via three questionnaires over a period of 22 months.

Results: A relationship between the severity of tinnitus-related distress and demographic profile as well as a relationship between depression symptoms and the severity of the tinnitus-related distress could be shown.

Office-based treatment in opioid dependence: a critical survey of prescription practices for opioid maintenance medications and concomitant benzodiazepines in Vienna, Austria.

Background: The success of maintenance treatment for opioid dependence in office-based settings is influenced by the extent of treatment coverage, the availability of effective medications and the capacity of general practitioners to prescribe opioids in adequate doses with a minimum of concomitant benzodiazepine prescriptions.

Methods: This study compares prescriptions for opioid maintenance and concomitant benzodiazepine from Viennese physicians in 2002 and 2005 using health insurance prescription records (n = 30,309).

Results: Between 2002 and 2005, the number of patients prescribed opioids more than doubled (ratio 1:2.

Quality of life in patients receiving opioid maintenance therapy. A comparative study of slow-release morphine versus methadone treatment.

Background/aims: In recent years, quality of life (QoL) assessments have proved useful for evaluating and comparing drug treatment programs. To compare QoL of patients maintained on methadone versus slow-release morphine, a prospective, randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, cross-over study was conducted.

Methods: Over two 7-week study phases, participants received either oral slow-release morphine capsules followed by methadone oral solution or vice versa.

Mortality in opioid-maintained patients after release from an addiction clinic.

Aim: To investigate the mortality rate in a cohort of 269 opioid-dependent patients and the outcome of survivors meeting DSM-IV criteria for opioid dependence.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Participants: Patients enrolled in synthetic opioid maintenance therapy during a time frame from 1998 to 1999 originally at the Addiction Clinic and then discharged to general practitioners.

The GOSLON yardstick in patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate: review of a Vienna sample.

Objective: To compare a Vienna unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) patient sample with the Eurocleft samples using the GOSLON score, to determine the intra- and interrater agreement between several raters and ratings, and to establish whether training with the original GOSLON models enhances accuracy.

Patients And Methods: One hundred twenty-three plaster casts of UCLP patients born between 1970 and 1997, with an average age of 9.2 years and all treated with the same regimen, were rated according to the GOSLON score.

Influence of peak and trough levels of opioid maintenance therapy on driving aptitude.

To evaluate driving aptitude and traffic-relevant performance at peak and trough medication levels in opioid-dependent patients receiving maintenance therapy with either buprenorphine (mean: 13.4 mg) or methadone (52.7 mg) and a medication-free control group, the Addiction Clinic at Medical University Vienna conducted a prospective, open-label trial where 40 opioid-dependent patients maintained either on buprenorphine or methadone were assessed regarding their traffic-relevant performance.