The American journal of psychiatry
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Reports of mental health care use by Latinos compared to Caucasians have been mixed. To the authors' knowledge, no large-scale studies have examined the effects of language on mental health service use for Latinos who prefer Spanish compared to Latinos who prefer English and to Caucasians. Language is the most frequently used proxy measure of acculturation. The authors used the administrative database of a mental health system to conduct a longitudinal examination of mental health service use among Spanish-speaking versus English-speaking Latinos and Caucasians with serious mental illness. ⋯ This study suggests that for Latinos, preferred language may be more important than ethnicity in mental health service use. Future studies comparing mental health use may need to differentiate between Spanish- and English-speaking Latinos.
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Comparative Study
Relative glucose metabolic rate higher in white matter in patients with schizophrenia.
There is increasing evidence demonstrating that circuits involving the frontal lobe, striatum, temporal lobe, and cerebellum are abnormal in individuals with schizophrenia, which suggests that metabolic activity in the white matter connecting these areas should be investigated. ⋯ In comparisons of unmedicated schizophrenia patients with normal volunteers, relative metabolic increases are apparent in white matter in patients with schizophrenia as well as decreases in gray matter. Inefficiency in brain circuitry, defects in white matter leading to enhanced energy need, white matter damage, and alterations in axon packing density are among the possible explanations for these schizophrenia-related findings of relatively increased metabolism in white matter.
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Comparative Study
Nursing home placement, day care use, and cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease.
People with Alzheimer's disease are often placed in a nursing home, sometimes after using adult day care services. How affected persons function during this potentially difficult transition is not well understood. The aim of this study was to examine the associations of day care use and nursing home placement with the rate of cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease. ⋯ Nursing home placement is associated with accelerated short-term cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease. Prior experience in adult day care may lessen this association.