Biomedical subjects

Jiri Modestin

Publications and source records attributed to Jiri Modestin.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Different traumatic experiences are associated with different pathologies.

We tested the hypothesis that different traumatic experiences will contribute in variable degree to different mental pathologies. A total of 223 young adult non-patients were assessed with the help of self-reports. The role of six different trauma experiences (broken home, dysfunctional family, family violence, child sexual abuse, child severe sexual abuse and adult sexual abuse) in six different conditions/pathologies (alexithymia, depression, somatization, borderline, overall physical health and overall mental health) was tested in a series of multivariate analyses of variance and of Roy-Bargmann stepdown analyses. The hypothesis was confirmed: Individual traumatic experiences were indeed associated with different pathologies. Specifically, sexual abuse predicted borderline pathology, severe child sexual abuse somatization, and dysfunctional or broken family depression. Family violence was associated with worse overall mental health and alexithymia, whereas no trauma variable could be identified to be associated with overall physical health. Most of these individual relationships were reported in the literature, based on results obtained in different clinical samples. Our results were won in a sample of young non-patients controlling for overlap between pathologies.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Patterns of heroin, cocaine, and alcohol abuse during long-term methadone maintenance treatment.

Individuals' use of heroin, cocaine, and alcohol during long-term methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) was studied. Prospectively collected data from 103 heroin-addicted individuals who were consecutively admitted for MMT and remained 2 years in treatment were evaluated. The patients were assessed every 6 months with a standardized interview. Three longitudinal patterns of drug abuse were identified. A proportion of patients abstained fully from their particular drug use (26% from heroin, 39% from cocaine, and 19% from alcohol); a proportion (39%, 32%, and 47%, respectively) switched between periods of abuse and nonuse of these drugs; and chronic drug users (34%, 28%, and 33%, respectively) continued use, including periods of daily abuse throughout MMT. Different therapeutic interventions may be needed in patients with different longitudinal patterns of additional substance use during MMT.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Criminality in men with major mental disorder with and without comorbid substance abuse.

Violent and criminal behavior in the mentally ill remains an issue of major importance and in this context the role of comorbid substance abuse must be addressed. Data on criminal behavior in 282 men with schizophrenia and 261 men with affective disorder were studied. Samples of patients with and without additional substance abuse were compared. Also, non-abusing patients from both diagnostic groups were compared with matched controls from the general population. Substance abuse was found in half of all men in both groups of major mental disorders, and substance abusers had twice as high a probability of having a criminal record. However, compared with the matched sample from the general population, violent criminality was increased in schizophrenic patients without comorbid substance abuse, and patients with affective disorders without substance abuse had a higher probability of committing crimes against property. Men with major mental disorder have an increased probability of becoming criminal even when there is no comorbid substance abuse.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Clozapine diminishes suicidal behavior: a retrospective evaluation of clinical records.

OBJECTIVE: To test the antisuicidal effect of clozapine, taking into consideration some potentially confounding variables. METHOD: A retrospective evaluation was conducted of the clinical charts of 94 inpatients treated continuously with clozapine for at least 6 weeks between 1962 and 1994. In a mirror design, a period of continuous clozapine treatment (mean duration of 15 months) was compared with a pre-clozapine period of equal length, and in 17 patients also with a post-clozapine period, with regard to suicidal behavior. The role of variables such as staying in a protective hospital milieu and receiving treatment with typical neuroleptics and antidepressants was considered. RESULTS: The rate of suicidal behavior was 28% (26/94) in the pre-clozapine period, 3% (3/94) in the clozapine period, and 18% (3/17) in the post-clozapine period, the corresponding figures for serious suicidal behavior requiring medical attention being 12% (11/94), 1% (1/94), and 12% (2/17), respectively. The odds ratios were 11.6 (95% CI = 3.4 to 39.9) and 12.3 (95% CI = 1.6 to 97.5) for suicidal and serious suicidal behavior, respectively, in favor of the clozapine period in comparison with the pre-clozapine period. Staying in the hospital was associated with reduction in suicidal behavior. The antisuicidal effect of clozapine possibly disappears at doses that are too low. CONCLUSION: Clozapine diminishes the frequency of suicidal behavior including serious suicidal acts, regardless of comedication with antidepressants. In the protective hospital milieu, this effect is less pronounced, and it disappears after clozapine discontinuation.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Testing the dissociative taxon.

A dissociative taxon has been proposed by Waller et al. (1996) to help identify individuals experiencing pathological dissociation. We studied the frequency of taxon membership and tested its validity. A total of 276 students and 204 psychiatric inpatients completed the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES). In patients with higher DES ratings, the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule was administered. Taxon classification applied to 2.9% of non-patients and to 12.7% of patients. No statistically significant relationship was found between taxon membership and the clinical diagnosis of a dissociative disorder. Taxon membership indicates a higher frequency of dissociative experiences but cannot be equated with the presence of a dissociative disorder.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Study on alexithymia in adult non-patients.

OBJECTIVE: We tested the purported complex relationships between alexithymia and somatization, depression, borderline pathology and general health. METHODS: A total of 139 medical students and 84 members of nursing personnel completed questionnaires. RESULTS: Thirteen (6%) alexithymic participants indicated more depression and borderline pathology and worse mental health. Path analysis confirmed a significant positive effect of borderline pathology and a significant negative effect of mental health on alexithymia but did not reveal any effects of somatization and depression. CONCLUSION: Presence of borderline pathology may indicate higher probability of alexithymia.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Long-term course of schizophrenic illness: Bleuler's study reconsidered.

OBJECTIVE: The influential 1972 study by Manfred Bleuler on the long-term course of schizophrenic illness has been reconsidered. The authors tested the diagnosis of schizophrenia in all patients and investigated how the distribution of the types of illness course and outcome would change after exclusion of patients whose diagnosis of schizophrenia could not be confirmed by modern diagnostic standards. METHOD: Clinical charts and Bleuler's research notes on the original sample were assessed, and all patients were rediagnosed with the help of DSM-IV, DSM-III-R, ICD-10, the Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC), Schneider's criteria, and an operationalized version of the criteria of Eugen Bleuler. RESULTS: The diagnosis of schizophrenia was not confirmed in about 30% of the sample; the majority of these patients were rediagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. High diagnostic agreement was found between DSM-IV, DSM-III-R, ICD-10, and RDC; there was much less agreement with Bleuler's and Schneider's criteria. After exclusion of patients whose schizophrenia diagnosis was not confirmed, the proportion of patients with undulating course and recovery slightly decreased, and the proportion of patients with severe end state slightly increased. Nevertheless, the distribution of the types of long-term course did not significantly change, and even among patients with strictly defined schizophrenia, half had an undulating course with remissions and 12%-15% recovered. CONCLUSIONS: Schizophrenic illness remains heterogeneous with regard to illness course and outcome even when narrowly diagnosed with the help of modern operationalized diagnostic criteria. Contemporary differentiation between schizophrenic and schizoaffective disorders is prognostically valid.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Neuropsychiatric consequences (atypical psychosis and complex-partial seizures) of ecstasy use: possible evidence for toxicity-vulnerability predictors and implications for preventative and clinical care.

Two case reports of ecstasy abuse and its serious neuropsychiatric complications are presented. The first patient developed a florid paranoid psychosis resembling schizophrenia after repeated long-term recreational ecstasy abuse, and significant alterations with intermittent paroxysmal discharges were found in his electroencephalogram. The second patient showed an atypical paranoid psychosis with Fregoli syndrome and a series of complex-partial epileptic seizures with secondary generalization after a first single ecstasy dose. Both subjects presented considerable vulnerability; the first a minimal brain dysfunction after perinatal asphyxia and a persisting attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, the second a long-lasting opioid addiction. In vulnerable individuals, dose-independent ecstasy abuse can lead to unpredictable and potentially dangerous neuropsychiatric sequelae which require proper initial assessment and adequate treatment.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Relationship of criminality to endogeneity and anxiety in patients with unipolar depression.

The relationship between criminal behavior on the one hand and endogeneity and anxiety on the other hand was investigated in a sample of patients with unipolar depression to help elucidate factors influencing the criminality rate in this population. A lower criminality rate in patients with higher ratings of endogeneity and anxiety was predicted. Clinical records of 179 male and 99 female psychiatric inpatients were retrospectively evaluated using the Newcastle Scale II and Hamilton Anxiety Scale. A full account of conviction records served as a measure of criminal behavior. Forty per cent of male patients and 7% of female patients were criminally registered. A lower criminality rate was indeed found in male and female patients with endogenous type of depression and in male patients with higher anxiety ratings. In a multivariate evaluation, however, sociodemographic variables in terms of age and social class seem to be more important predictors of criminality and all variables we assessed contributed only marginally to the explanation of the criminality variance. Thus, in patients with unipolar depression, sociodemographic factors seem to be of a greater even though still limited importance regarding criminal behavior compared with the clinical variables of endogeneity and anxiety.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Dissociative experiences and their correlates in young non-patients.

The relationship between dissociation and some of its potential correlates and antecedents was explored. Young medical students (N = 276) completed the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES), Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and Munich Personality Test (MPT). The findings indicate that both personality characteristics (such as alexithymia and neuroticism) and, to a modest degree, environmental factors in terms of the lack of parental care contribute to the dissociation variance.

Adult↗