Comprehensive psychiatry
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Comprehensive psychiatry · Jan 2015
Psychometric properties of a Chinese version of the Stigma Scale: examining the complex experience of stigma and its relationship with self-esteem and depression among people living with mental illness in Hong Kong.
Stigma of mental illness is a global public health concern, but there lacks a standardized and cross-culturally validated instrument for assessing the complex experience of stigma among people living with mental illness (PLMI) in the Chinese context. ⋯ The CSS is a short and user-friendly self-administrated questionnaire that proves valuable for understanding the multifaceted stigma experiences among PLMI as well as their impact on psychiatric recovery and community integration in Chinese communities.
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Comprehensive psychiatry · Jan 2015
Resilience moderates the risk of depression and anxiety symptoms on suicidal ideation in patients with depression and/or anxiety disorders.
Few studies have investigated the role of protective factors for suicidal ideation, which include resilience and social support among psychiatric patients with depression and/or anxiety disorders who are at increased risk of suicide. ⋯ Our results indicate that resilience potentially moderates the risk of depression and anxiety symptoms on suicidal ideation in patients with depression and/or anxiety disorders. Assessment of resilience and intervention focused on resilience enhancement is suggested for suicide prevention.
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Suicidal ideations may precede suicide attempts. They are of particular concern in psychiatric populations because psychopathology is a major risk factor for suicide. The factors affecting the development of suicide ideations may differ among psychiatric patients with and without a previous suicide attempt and individuals without a psychiatric diagnosis. ⋯ The mechanism underlying suicidal ideation appears to differ between psychiatric patients who have previously attempted suicide and those who have not, supporting a dual model of suicidal ideation. Although this is only a preliminary study, these findings are important for furthering our understanding of the process of transition of suicidal thoughts to completion of suicide. These results need further replication with a larger cohort of subjects.
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Comprehensive psychiatry · Nov 2014
Association of symptom severity, insight and increased pharmacologic side effects in acutely hospitalized patients with schizophrenia.
Many studies have shown that more severe symptoms and poorer insight are associated with poor treatment compliance in schizophrenia while severe symptoms may result in higher medication dosages. Since pharmacologic side effects may accompany greater medication compliance and higher medication dosage, the relationship between symptoms, insight and side effects deserves study. ⋯ More severe symptoms and greater insight among schizophrenic inpatients were both significantly if modestly associated with more severe pharmacologic side effects, the former presumably because of the need for higher doses of medication and the latter because of greater medication compliance. In addition, patients with both more severe symptoms and greater insight were even more prone to pharmacologic side effects than others presumably reflecting higher doses and higher compliance. Clinicians treating highly symptomatic but insightful patients, i.e. those most likely to need and to adhere to prescribed medications, may need to be especially vigilant about side effects.
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Comprehensive psychiatry · May 2014
The Distress Thermometer as an ultra-short screening tool: a first validation study for mixed-cancer outpatients in Singapore.
Research has shown that single-item tools, like the Distress Thermometer (DT), are comparable to longer ones, like the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). In this study, we tested the validity of the DT in a population of Singapore cancer outpatients, and determined the cut-off scores on the DT for clinically relevant distress and an impaired quality of life (QOL). We also documented the prevalence of anxiety, depression, and QOL impairments in this population. ⋯ Levels of distress, anxiety, depression, and QOL impairments are high in this population. The DT was found to be a valid tool for distress screening in the Singapore cancer population, with a recommended cut-off score of 5.