Domestic Violence Victims in Shelters: What Do We Know About Their Mental Health?

In this study, the relationship between mental disorders, childhood trauma and sociodemographic characteristics was evaulated in women staying in shelters due to domestic violence. The study comprised 59 volunteers, staying in women's shelters in Istanbul due to domestic violence. The structured clinical interview for DSM-IV TR axis 1 disorders (SCID-I), Domestic Violence Data Form, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, Beck Anxiety Inventory and Childhood Trauma Questionnaire were applied by a psychiatric expert in face-to-face interviews.

Conversion Disorder Comorbidity and Childhood Trauma.

Introduction: The aim of this study is to examine the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, the presence of comorbidity, and the link with childhood traumatic experiences in patients with conversion disorder (CD) in a psychiatric outpatient clinic.

Methods: A total of 60 literate, female patients between 18 and 65 years of age who were referred to the general psychiatry outpatient clinic and who were diagnosed with conversion disorder according to the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria were included in the study. A questionnaire on sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS), the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), and the Dissociative Events Scale (DES) were used to assess the cases.

Effect of the childhood trauma on the adjustment to cancer in the patients with breast cancer.

Background: Early identification of patients coping poorly is important for compliance with treatment and control of distress. This study aims to investigate the effect of the childhood trauma experience on the type of reaction and adjustment that the person exhibits to the cancer among the patients with breast cancer.

Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled 310 patients with breast cancer.

[The Relationship Between Emotion Recognition and the Symptoms of Attention Deficit and Impulsivity in Adult Patients With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder].

Purpose: Interpersonal relationship disorders in adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can be associated with the impairment of non-verbal communication. The purpose of our study was to compare the emotion recognition, facial recognition and neuropsychological assessments of adult ADHD patients with those of healthy controls, and to thus determine the effect of neuropsychological data on the recognition of emotional expressions.

Methods: This study, which was based on a case-control model, was conducted with patients diagnosed with ADHD according to the DSM-IV-TR, being followed and monitored at the adult ADHD clinic of the Psychiatry Department of the Istanbul University Istanbul Medical Faculty Hospital.

Illness perception of dropout patients followed up at bipolar outpatient clinic, Turkey.

Dropout is a common problem in the treatment of psychiatric illnesses including bipolar disorders (BD). The aim of the present study is to investigate illness perceptions of dropout patients with BD. A cross sectional study was done on the participants who attended the Mood Disorder Outpatient Clinic at least 3 times from January 2003 through June 2008, and then failed to attend clinic till to the last one year, 2009, determined as dropout.

Oncology staff: burnout, job satisfaction and coping with stress.

Objective: The oncology staff is at high risk for developing psychological disorders and burnout. In this study, we aimed to evaluate their burnout levels, job satisfaction, psychological statement and ways of coping with stress and the relationship between these variables and their sociodemographic and occupational characteristics.

Methods: Among all health workers at the Istanbul University Institute, of Oncology, 159 were included in the study.

Does Illness Perception Predict Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Patients with Myocardial Infarction?

Introduction: Myocardial infarction (MI) as a life-threatening event, carrying high risk of recurrence and chronic disabling complications, increases the risk of developing acute stress disorder (ASD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or both. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between illness perceptions and having ASD, PTSD, or both in patients after MI.

Method: Seventy-six patients diagnosed with acute MI were enrolled into our prospective study.

Working memory dysfunction in delusional disorders: an fMRI investigation.

Background: Delusional disorder (DD) is a rare and understudied psychiatric disorder. There is limited number of studies concerning cognitive characteristics in DD. Using an established working memory paradigm with variable levels of memory load, we investigated alterations in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of brain regions in patients with DD.

Epidemiological study of self-reported sleep problems in Turkish high school adolescents.

Background: The aim of the present study was to investigate the frequency and correlates of a variety of sleep problems in adolescents.

Methods: A representative school-based sample of 3485 8th-12th graders was selected according to the cluster sampling technique. A sleep questionnaire and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire were completed by the students along with their parents.

N2 and P3 potentials in early-onset and late-onset patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Background: Impaired cognitive control processes may be central in the pathogenesis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Our objective was to evaluate cognitive control processes with event-related potentials in early-onset OCD (EO) and late-onset OCD (LO), which are suggested to have distinct characteristics.

Methods: Participants were unmedicated EO (n = 26) and LO patients (n = 33) without comorbid psychopathology and healthy controls (n = 54).

Assessment of myocardial damage by cardiac MRI in patients with anorexia nervosa.

Objective: Cardiac damage is a major complication of anorexia nervosa (AN). The present study evaluated the prevalence of myocardial damage in patients with AN by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR).

Method: This study was cross-sectional and observational.

Decreased IFN-γ and IL-12 levels in panic disorder.

Objective: The aim of this study is to assess the measures of proinflammatory cytokines in patients with panic disorder in comparison with the healthy subjects.

Methods: Twenty three patients with panic disorder with or without agoraphobia and twenty three controls were recruited for the study. Plasma samples of all subjects were analyzed for TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6, and IL-12 concentrations and NK-cell activity is measured in the peripheral blood samples of the subjects.

Neuropsychological function in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic disease characterized by repetitive, unwanted intrusive thoughts and ritualistic behaviors. Studies of neuropsychological functions in OCD have documented deficits in several cognitive domains, particularly with regard to visuospatial abilities, executive functioning, and motor speed. The objective of the present study was to investigate systematically the cognitive functioning of OCD patients who were free of medication and comorbid psychiatric disorders.

Psychiatric morbidity and quality of life in patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria.

Background: Chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU) is a frequently occurring disease that has a great impact on the health-related quality of life (HRQL) of patients and seems to be associated with a number of psychological factors.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in patients with CIU and to determine HRQL of CIU patients compared with controls.

Methods: A semistructured interview form, a generic form of the HRQL questionnaire (Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey [SF-36]), and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis Disorders (SCID-I) were administered to CIU patients who presented to the Allergy Department of the University of Istanbul (from January 1 to April 30, 2005).

Comparison of clinical characteristics in episodic and chronic obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Our objective in this study was to compare the demographics and clinical characteristics of patients with episodic and chronic obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). We recruited 128 outpatients with a primary diagnosis of OCD according to DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. The episodic (n=24) and chronic (n=104) OCD patient groups were compared with respect to demographic variables and scores from various psychiatric rating scales.