The mental health screening of conscripts for the Singapore Armed Forces: rationale, objectives, and design.

Identification of mentally ill military conscripts is crucial, since these individuals may experience an exacerbation of their illness during training with dire consequences for them and the organization. This article describes the design of a study to validate a screening instrument for psychiatric disorders as well as to establish their prevalence among male army conscripts in Singapore. It involved a two-stage process: the conscripts were screened with a new instrument which we termed the Mental Wellness Screening Questionnaire; those who screened positive, and a random sample of those who did not, were administered the computerized Composite International Diagnostic Interview which was the gold standard in making the diagnosis.

Concomitant use of midazolam and buprenorphine and its implications among drug users in Singapore.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and characteristics of benzodiazepine (BZD) abuse among intravenous opioid users in Singapore.

Materials And Methods: Eligibility criteria for inclusion in this study were all intravenous buprenorphine abusers, who presented to the Community Addictions Management Programme (CAMP) over a 1-year period from February 2005 to January 2006. One hundred and twenty subjects, who consented to the study, completed an interviewer-administered questionnaire and underwent blood test for blood-borne viral infections.

Seroprevalence of hepatitis C in intravenous opioid users presenting in the early phase of injecting drug use in Singapore.

Introduction: All over the world, Hepatitis C virus (HCV) accounts for an estimated 130 million chronic infections. Injection drug use has become one of the most important risk factors for HCV, and within the injection drug user population, the prevalence of HCV antibody ranges from 70 to 95 percent depending on an individual's length of use and the prevalence of infection in the community. This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of and the risk factors for Hepatitis C antibodies in injecting drug users presenting to the Community Addictions Management Programme (CAMP) in Singapore.

De novo emergence of obsessive-compulsive symptoms with atypical antipsychotics in asian patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder: a retrospective, cross-sectional study.

Objective: The objective of our study was to establish the incidence of de novo emergence of obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) in patients taking atypical antipsychotics in an Asian population.

Method: Outpatients with schizophrenia or schizo-affective disorder (DSM-IV criteria) who were prescribed any of the 4 atypical antipsychotics approved by the U.S.

Metabolic differences between Asian and Caucasian patients on clozapine treatment.

Objective: To establish if there are ethnic differences in the various metabolic disturbances that are common with clozapine treatment.

Method: Forty subjects (20 Asians and 20 Caucasians) with a diagnosis of schizophrenia were recruited for the study. Clozapine blood levels as well as fasting blood glucose, lipid levels, and liver function tests were established.

Psychiatric morbidity in patients referred to an insomnia clinic.

Introduction: Insomnia is a common complaint associated with psychiatric disorders. Detection and diagnosis of insomnia can be a challenge at the primary care level. Patients often present with various kinds of psychological symptoms.

Socio-demographic profile and help-seeking behaviour of buprenorphine abusers in Singapore.

Introduction: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved buprenorphine or Subutex for the treatment of opiate dependence in October 2002. Buprenorphine is a partial agonist of the mu-opioid receptor; although initial animal research suggested a low abuse potential for buprenorphine, it was subsequently shown to have an abuse potential similar to that of morphine or hydromorphone. The objectives of this study were to establish the sociodemographic profile and help-seeking behaviour of buprenorphine abusers attending the deaddiction treatment clinics of the Community Addictions Management Programme.

Anorexia nervosa in Singapore: an eight-year retrospective study.

Introduction: Information regarding the clinical features of patients with anorexia nervosa in Singapore is rare and there have not been any large studies published to date. The aims of this paper were to study the clinical characteristics and features of patients with anorexia nervosa in Singapore, and to compare the clinical features of the early versus the classical later-onset cases.

Methods: 126 cases presenting to the Child Guidance Clinic and the Eating Disorder Clinic at the Institute of Mental Health between 1994 and 2002 were identified and studied retrospectively.

Development and validation of a depression scale for Asian adolescents.

Items covering both core and culture-specific facets of depression were generated based on literature review and clinical experience. They were modified following focus group discussions with depressed adolescents and adolescents in the community. The newly constructed Asian Adolescent Depression Scale (AADS) was administered to a clinical and a community sample of adolescents together with other rating scales.

Psychosis--a need for preemptive intervention?

With the advent of newer antipsychotic medications with fewer side-effects both clinicians and patients may be more willing to take early preemptive measures in treating psychotic disorders. We present a case report of use of pharmacotherapeutic intervention in an individual with either possible prodromal symptoms of schizophrenia or a subthreshold disorder. This case presented to us with the ethical dilemma inherent in treating a patient with subthreshold disorder.

Child sexual abuse in Singapore with special reference to medico-legal implications: a review of 38 cases.

There is a paucity of studies on child sexual abuse in Asia. This study reviews the trends of child sexual abuse in Singapore and discusses the medico-legal considerations in the identification, assessment and management (including forensic implications) of such cases. It is a retrospective case review of 38 consecutive cases of child sexual abuse seen at a child guidance clinic in Singapore.

Diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance in patients with schizophrenia.

Objectives: This study aimed to establish the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) and impaired glucose tolerance in patients with schizophrenia and to elucidate some of the factors associated with hyperglycemia.

Methods: We studied a sample of 194 patients with schizophrenia. We determined fasting blood glucose and insulin levels at the start of the testing period; patients were given an oral glucose tolerance test after an overnight fast.

Clinical evaluation and plasma clozapine concentrations in Chinese patients with schizophrenia.

The relationships between clozapine dosages, plasma concentrations, and clinical responses in Chinese schizophrenics were studied. Fourteen treatment-refractory schizophrenic patients were treated with clozapine for 12 weeks. Patients were assessed before and after 6 and 12 weeks of treatment using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), the Clinical Global Impression (CGI), and the Simpson-Angus Scale for Extrapyramidal Side Effect.

Schizophrenia and kleptomania: a case report--a biological link?

This case of co-morbidity of schizophrenia and kleptomania in a 21-year-old Chinese man is believed to be the first reported. In kleptomania, loss of impulse control seems to be the central disturbance. The neurotransmitter serotonin has been proposed to be important in impulse control.