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Biomedical subjects

M T Coppola

Publications and source records attributed to M T Coppola.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

Psychiatric comorbidity and psychosocial stress in patients with tension-type headache from headache centers in Italy. The Italian Collaborative Group for the Study of Psychopathological Factors in Primary Headaches.

A multicenter study was carried out in 10 Italian Headache Centers to investigate the prevalence of psychosocial stress and psychiatric disorders listed by the IHS classification as the "most likely causative factors" of tension-type headache (TTH). Two hundred and seventeen TTH adult outpatients consecutively recruited underwent a structured psychiatric interview (CIDI-c). The assessment of psychosocial stress events was carried out using an ad hoc questionnaire. The psychiatric disorders that we included in the three psychiatric items of the fourth digit of the IHS classification were depressive disorders for the item depression, anxiety disorders for the item anxiety, and somatoform disorders for the item headache as a delusion or an idea. Diagnoses were made according to DSM-III-R criteria. At least one psychosocial stress event or a psychiatric disorder was detected in 84.8% of the patients. Prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity was 52.5% for anxiety, 36.4% for depression, and 21.7% for headache as a delusion or an idea. Psychosocial stress was found in 29.5% of the patients and did not differ between patients with and without psychiatric comorbidity. Generalized anxiety disorder (83.3%) and dysthymia (45.6%) were the most frequent disorders within their respective psychiatric group. The high prevalence of psychiatric disorders observed in this wide sample of patients emphasizes the need for a systematic investigation of psychiatric comorbidity aimed at a more comprehensive and appropriate clinical management of TTH patients.

Adult↗

L-sulpiride in young and elderly negative schizophrenics: clinical and pharmacokinetic variables.

1. Clinical activity, tolerability and kinetic profile of L-sulpiride (200-300 mg/die p.o.) in relation to age, in 14 chronic schizophrenic in patients diagnosed according to DSM III-R, typed as negative forms, were studied. 2. The drug showed its efficacy in negative forms of schizophrenia, without any significant difference between negative and positive symptoms even if productive symptom scores were quite low already in pre-treatment condition. 3. No more side effects (anticholinergic and extrapyramidal) in elderly patients compared to young/adult ones were reported. 4. No significant differences between young/adult and elderly patients for the various pharmacokinetic parameters (t1/2, AUC, Cmax, Tmax, Vd and Cl), after acute and multiple dosing, were observed.

Adult↗

[Multinational validation of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI)].

The Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) is a fully structured diagnostic interview developed by the "Joint Project of World Health Organization (WHO) and Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration (ADAMHA) on Diagnosis and Classification of Mental Disorders and Alcohol and Drug Related Problems". Its main features are: it is devised for use in epidemiological and trans-cultural fields, can be used also by non-medical staff, has a modular structure, and gives diagnoses simultaneously according to ICD-10 and DSM-III-R, covering respectively 39 and 32 diagnoses on Axis I. This paper explains the validation study which was performed simultaneously in 20 different Countries under the competence of WHO applying a traditional interviewer-observer protocol. The reliability indexes which were obtained are among the highest reported in the current literature for similar instruments, and good levels of trans-cultural applicability and feasibility were demonstrated. CIDI therefore proved to be a very precise and reliable diagnostic instrument.

Cross-Cultural Comparison↗

[L-sulpiride in the treatment of somatoform disturbances: a double-blind study with racemic sulpiride].

Thirty out-patients, age ranging from 22 to 64 years (mean 49.20 +/- 1.71 SE) diagnosed according to DSM III-R, were studied to evaluate clinical efficacy and tolerability of L-sulpiride (L-SLP) vs racemic sulpiride (SLP) in the treatment of somatoform disorders. After one week of placebo treatment, not responders were treated under double blind conditions with L-SLP (150 mg po/die) (group 1) or with SLP (300 mg po/die) (group 2) for three weeks. A placebo week followed the treatment. Clinical picture and side-effects were evaluated at the beginning of the study and then weekly using the Lipman scale for somatoform disorders (SCL), the Hamilton rating scale for anxiety (HRS-A), the EPSE for extrapyramidal side-effects and a check list for anticholinergic side-effects (ACS). Haematochemical routine, ECG and EEG were controlled at the beginning and at the end of the study. All patients showed a significant improvement (p less than 0.01 for group 1, p less than 0.05 for group 2) at the SCL from the first week of treatment. Patients treated with L-SLP showed a significant improvement (p less than 0.01) of HRS-A since the first week of treatment, while group 2 showed it since the second week. Extrapyramidal and anticholinergic side-effects were more frequent in group 2. This study seems to confirm the useful use of L-SLP in somatoform disorders; clinical and tolerability data point out that this isomer is more potent than the racemic compound, with less side-effects.

Adult↗