PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

D Addington

Publications and source records attributed to D Addington.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

[The Japanese version of the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenics (JCDSS)].

Depressive features are clearly recognized within the context of schizophrenia, and clarification of the comorbidity has important clinical implications particularly when choosing the best neuroleptics for treatment. However, in some cases, it is difficult to clearly distinguish between depressive symptoms, negative symptoms and extrapyramidal side-effects. Conventionally, the Zung's Self-Rating Depression Scale or Hamilton's Depression Rating Scale has been used as an evaluation scale of depressive symptoms. However, as these scales are designed for assessment of depression in non-psychotic populations, they do not necessarily distinguish depressed from non-depressed psychotic subjects. Recently, Addington et al. developed a new depression scale, the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenics(CDSS), which was designed for the assessment of depression in schizophrenia. CDSS is a nine item structured interview scale, in which each item has a four point measure, each point anchored by descriptors. It has been tested, and it has been shown that there is no overlap with negative or extrapyramidal symptoms. Therefore, for its clinical application, we prepared the Japanese-language version(JCDSS).

Depression↗
PubMed1999

Evaluation of depression in schizophrenia: psychometric properties of a French version of the Calgary Depression Scale.

The aim of this study was to determine the psychometric properties (especially validity and reliability) of the French language version of the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS) in schizophrenic patients. Ninety-five subjects who met DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia were enrolled. The studies of the internal structural validity and of the reliability (internal consistency) showed that some items from the CDSS (early awakening and guilty ideas of reference) must be discussed in the constitution of this scale. The total score of the CDSS was significantly correlated with the MADRS total score, the HDRS total score, and the depression item (G6) on the PANSS, which suggests that the CDSS is a valid instrument for the assessment of depression in schizophrenia. The existence of a significant correlation between the CDSS total score and the PANSS positive sub-scale suggests a possible relationship between positive and depressive symptoms in schizophrenia.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Neurocognitive and social functioning in schizophrenia.

This cross-sectional study examined the relationships between neurocognitive and social functioning in a sample of 80 outpatients with DSM-III-R schizophrenia. The neurocognitive battery included measures of verbal ability, verbal memory, visual memory, executive functioning, visual-spatial organization, vigilance, and early information processing. Positive and negative symptoms were assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. A range of social behaviors were assessed using the Social Functioning Scale (SFS), the Quality of Life Scale (QLS), and a video-based test, the Assessment of Interpersonal Problem-Solving Skills (AIPSS). Social functioning as assessed by the SFS was unrelated to neurocognitive functioning. Poor cognitive flexibility was associated with low scores on the QLS and the AIPSS. Verbal ability and verbal memory were also significantly associated with the AIPSS. Visual-spatial ability and vigilance were associated with the sending skills subscale of the AIPSS. In this study, which used a wide range of neurocognitive tests and measures of community functioning and social problem solving, results support earlier research that suggests an association between certain aspects of neurocognitive functioning and social functioning.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Attributional style and depression in schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVES: The literature implies that negative attributional style is a psychological correlate of depression. Recent evidence suggests that negative attributional style may be specific to depression. This study examines the association between level of depression and negative attributional style in a sample of individuals with schizophrenia. METHOD: One hundred and thirteen inpatients with schizophrenia were assessed with the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia and the Attributional Style Questionnaire. RESULTS: Attributions of negative events to internal and to global causes were significantly associated with depressive symptoms. Only the global dimension was significantly associated with positive symptoms. No attributional dimensions were significantly associated with negative symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: These results are consistent with the idea that negative attributional style may be specific to depression and not a general characteristic of psychopathology.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Hospital days in risperidone-treated patients.

OBJECTIVE: To compare inpatient hospital days of a group of "real world" schizophrenia-spectrum patients for 3 years prior to and 3 years after risperidone initiation. METHOD: This is a retrospective cohort study using a mirror-image design of hospital days in 120 patients over a 6-year period. Hospital admission and discharge information was obtained from chart review and database extraction at 3 outpatient treatment sites. The sample comprised all patients attending these clinics who were prescribed risperidone during the first year of the drug's release. RESULTS: Patients separated into 3 treatment groups: those who were prescribed risperidone for 3 uninterrupted years (N = 35), those who interrupted but resumed risperidone use and were prescribed the drug at 3 years (N = 8), and those who discontinued risperidone during the 3-year follow-up period (N = 77). The group continuing risperidone to 3 years demonstrated a significant decrease in hospital days after risperidone treatment, in contrast to the other 2 groups. The reduction in inpatient days for the total sample was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: In this outpatient clinic sample, the 29% of patients who continued on risperidone showed a significant reduction in inpatient hospital days, from an average of 17.2 days per year in the 3 years before risperidone treatment to an average of 2.1 days per year for the 3 years of risperidone treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Visual attention and symptoms in schizophrenia: a 1-year follow-up.

Visual attention and positive and negative symptoms were assessed in a sample of inpatients with a relapse of schizophrenia and 3 months later during a period of relative remission. Visual attention was measured with the Continuous Performance Task (CPT) and the Span of Apprehension Task (SPAN). A previous report showed that in 59 schizophrenia subjects, poor visual attention was significantly associated with high levels of negative, but not positive, symptoms at the 3-month follow-up. Although symptoms improved significantly, the schizophrenia subjects' performance on the CPT and SPAN was relatively stable over time. In this follow-up study, symptoms were re-assessed 12 months (n = 40) after the acute relapse. There were no associations between attention at 3 months and negative or positive symptoms assessed at 12 months. These results appear contradictory to the hypothesis that deficits in visual attention are negative symptom-linked indicators.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Facial affect recognition and information processing in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

This study assessed facial affect recognition and visual attention in a sample of 40 individuals with schizophrenia, at hospitalization and 3 months later during an out-patient phase of relative remission. Secondly, at the out-patient phase the performance of the individuals with schizophrenia on tasks of visual attention, facial affect recognition and facial recognition was compared to the performances of a non-psychiatric control group and a bipolar group on these tasks. Attention was measured with the Continuous Performance Test and the Span of Apprehension task. Facial affect recognition was measured with a discrimination task and an identification task. A measure of facial recognition was also used. The schizophrenia patients performed more poorly on measures of facial affect recognition and facial recognition than both control groups. Despite a significant improvement in symptoms over time, there was no change in facial affect recognition for the schizophrenia subjects. For the schizophrenia subjects there were significant associations between attention tasks and the facial tasks. These results suggest that for individuals with schizophrenia, deficits in facial affect recognition are stable deficits that are related to other impairments in neurocognition. This has implications for psychosocial treatments.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia: a study of the validity of a French-language version in a population of schizophrenic patients.

The Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS) is a nine-item structured interview scale developed by Addington et al. to assess depression in schizophrenics. This paper describes the testing of the reliability and validity of the French version of the CDSS in a population of 70 schizophrenic patients. The validity of the CDSS as a measure of depression was confirmed; a single factor accounted for 41% of the variance of the nine items. The total score on the CDSS was strongly correlated with those on the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and also the G6 item (depression) of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). The correlation with the Psychomotor Retardation Scale (ERD) total score was much less significant and was better with the 'subjective' subscore. The internal consistency was good, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.79. A high level of inter-rater reliability was observed (weighted kappa values were >0.75 in all cases). The CDSS has a lower stability over time than other depression scales. It is a simple, quick and reliable scale for assessing depression in schizophrenic populations.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Smoking cessation treatment for patients with schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE: This study was an uncontrolled trial to assess the efficacy of a smoking cessation group program modified for individuals with schizophrenia. METHOD: Fifty outpatients with schizophrenia were divided into five groups who met separately for seven weekly sessions of a smoking cessation program. The subjects' schizophrenic and extrapyramidal symptoms were assessed before the group sessions began and after they had been completed. Assessments of smoking were made at those times and at 3-month and 6-month follow-ups. RESULTS: Forty-two percent of the subjects had stopped smoking at the end of the group sessions; 16% remained abstinent at 3 months, and 12% at 6 months. These changes were statistically significant. There was no change in the positive or negative symptoms of schizophrenia. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that it is possible for individuals with schizophrenia to stop smoking.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Depression in people with first-episode schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Depression has been described in people presenting with first-episode schizophrenia, a group at high relative risk of suicide. METHOD: This was a longitudinal cohort study of 113 people during an acute relapse and 13 having a first episode. Follow-up occurred at three months and at one year. This report compares level of depression in the first episode and in the relapsing group. Levels of depression were assessed using the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS). RESULTS: The median CDSS score was statistically significantly higher in the first-episode group both during the acute phase and at three month follow-up. At one year the first-episode group continued to have higher levels of depression than the multiple episode group. CONCLUSIONS: For people with a first episode of schizophrenia, depression is a major problem during the initial acute phase and during the first year of illness. In light of the high risk of suicide in this population, recognition and treatment of depression requires greater attention.

Cohort Studies↗
PubMed1998

Effect of substance misuse in early psychosis.

BACKGROUND: Studies examining the temporal relationship between substance use and the onset of psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia are inconclusive. METHOD: Three groups of out-patients with schizophrenia were compared on onset of illness, symptoms and quality of life. Fifty-one subjects had no past or present history of substance misuse, 29 subjects had a history of past substance misuse occurring around the onset of their illness, and 33 subjects were currently misusing substances. RESULTS: Current substance misusers had poorer quality of life scores and less negative symptoms than the non-users. Those who had a past history of substance misuse had a significantly earlier age of onset than those with no substance use. CONCLUSIONS: Attention should be paid to substance misuse present at the first episode. Treatment for schizophrenia should begin even though a diagnosis of drug-induced psychosis cannot be ruled out.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Attentional vulnerability indicators in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Visual attention and positive and negative symptoms were assessed in 59 inpatients with a relapse of schizophrenia and 3 months later during a period of relative remission. Visual attention was measured with the Continuous Performance Task (CPT) and the Span of Apprehension Task (SPAN). At follow-up schizophrenia subjects were compared on visual attention to 40 outpatients with bipolar disorder and 40 normal controls. Although symptoms improved significantly, the schizophrenia subjects' performance on the CPT and SPAN was relatively stable over time. Poor visual attention was significantly associated with high levels of negative, but not positive symptoms at the 3-month follow-up. The schizophrenia subjects had poorer visual attention than the normal controls. There were no differences between the schizophrenia and the bipolar subjects. These results offer partial support to the hypothesis that deficits in visual attention may be negative symptom-linked vulnerability indicators.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Readiness to stop smoking in schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the motivation and readiness to change of individuals with schizophrenia prior to developing a smoking cessation program. METHOD: Smoking history, nicotine dependence, readiness to stop smoking, and interest in a smoking cessation group were assessed in 60 schizophrenia outpatients who smoked. RESULTS: The majority were interested in attending a smoking cessation group and appeared to be appropriately motivated. CONCLUSIONS: Smoking cessation groups for a schizophrenia population may be a worthwhile endeavour. Current measures of motivation and readiness to change may be useful to identify those who are most likely to succeed.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Placebos in clinical trials of psychotropic medication.

This paper represents the position of the Canadian Psychiatric Association on the ethical and scientific issues related to the use of placebos in the evaluation of new psychotropic drugs. The position taken by the Association is that new psychotropic medications must be shown to be effective and must be weighed against the best current interventions. Placebo controls may be appropriate under certain circumstances, even when an established intervention is effective. These include situations in which placebo response rates are high, variable, or close to response rates for effective therapies. Placebo controls are also appropriate when established interventions carry a high risk of side effects or are effective against only certain symptoms of the disorder.

Canada↗
PubMed1997

Substance abuse and cognitive functioning in schizophrenia.

Individuals with schizophrenia have an increased vulnerability to abuse drugs or alcohol. This vulnerability can interfere with the course and treatment of the disorder and may also have a detrimental effect on already compromised cognitive functioning. This study has a matched, cross-sectional design and compares the social and cognitive functioning and the symptoms of 33 schizophrenia subjects who abuse substances with 33 nonabusing schizophrenia subjects. Subjects were matched on sex, age, and education variables and were all outpatients. Measures of social functioning and quality of life were used. Assessment of cognitive functioning included measures of verbal ability, attention, executive functioning, and verbal and visual memory. Substance-abusing subjects had significantly lower quality of life. There were no other differences between the 2 groups. Several explanations are offered for the lack of observed differences in cognitive functioning.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Distractibility and symptoms in schizophrenia.

Distractibility was assessed in 59 inpatients with a relapse of schizophrenia and 3 mo later during a period of relative remission. Distractibility was measured with a digit span task and symptoms with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Although positive and negative symptoms improved significantly, the schizophrenia subjects' performance on the digit span task remained stable over time. There was no relationship between attention and symptoms. The possibility of distractibility being a vulnerability indicator for schizophrenia is discussed.

Adult↗