Biomedical subjects

N V Angelopoulos

Publications and source records attributed to N V Angelopoulos.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Psychiatric factors in patients with sensitive skin.

The term sensitive skin has been used to describe a clinical phenomenon of skin hyperreactivity induced after exposure to different external factors. The diagnosis is mainly based on patient's self-assessment because of the lack of objective clinical signs of the disease. The aim of this study was to investigate psychiatric factors in patients with sensitive skin and to estimate the possible need for psychological intervention to these patients. Thirty-seven patients with sensitive skin and 38 individuals with nonsensitive skin were studied. The psychometric instruments used were the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) and the Delusions-Symptoms-States Inventory/states of Anxiety and Depression (DSSI/sAD). Statistically significant differences in subjects with sensitive skin compared to those with nonsensitive skin were observed in the SCL-90 subscales of somatization, phobic anxiety, hostility, interpersonal sensitivity and the DSSI/sAD subscale of anxiety. Our findings suggest that somatization, anxiety, phobic anxiety, hostility and interpersonal sensitivity symptoms may be associated with hypersensitivity of human skin. Psychological factors should be taken into consideration in the treatment of patients with sensitive skin.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Hierarchical arrangement of psychiatric symptoms in the context of schizophrenia.

Foulds' model proposing a four-class hierarchical structure of mental illness represents an interesting dimension of psychiatric research and discussion and probably has a significant potential on diagnosis, taxonomy, therapeutics and theory. Psychiatric symptoms were investigated in a group of 244 schizophrenic patients with the purpose of analyzing Foulds and Bedford's notion that psychiatric symptoms are arranged hierarchically. To achieve this the R (recent) version of the Delusions, Symptoms, States, Inventory (DSSI) was administered in the form of a constructed interview to these patients. The hierarchical arrangement of psychiatric symptoms was verified since a great majority of the cases (80.8%) produced symptom patterns conforming to the hierarchy model. However, patients with duration of illness longer than 10 years reported conforming patterns in a lower percentage (77%), whereas 84.6% of those with a duration of illness less than 2 years reported conforming patterns. The non-conforming patterns were those in which integrated delusions were absent in the presence of delusions of disintegration, neurotic symptoms were absent in the presence of integrated delusions, and dysthymic states were absent in the presence of neurotic symptoms.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1995

Mental symptoms, hostility features and stressful life events in people with cancer.

Hostility features, mental symptoms, and stressful life events were investigated in 100 patients (59 men and 41 women) suffering from cancer. Fifty-seven healthy men (n = 26) and women (n = 31) were used for comparison purposes. The assessment instruments were the Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire, the Delusions Symptoms States Inventory/states of anxiety and depression and a modified version of the Schedule of Life Experiences. Women patients reported lower scores than healthy women on total hostility, but men patients reported higher scores than healthy men. Introverted hostility was increased in both male and female patients, but due to different patterns: in women due to lower scores on extroverted hostility subscales, especially acting-out hostility, whereas in men due to higher scores on introverted hostility subscales, especially guilt. Female patients, compared with healthy women, reported significantly higher scores on the depressive and anxiety subscales, whereas in the man the differences were not statistically significant even though patients reported higher scores than normals. On the Schedule of Life Experiences, female patients reported statistically significant higher scores than healthy women.

Adult↗

PubMed1989

Personality structure disturbances and psychiatric manifestations in primary Sjögren's syndrome.

It has been recently suggested that primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS) patients present with a variety of personality structure disturbances and psychiatric symptoms. To evaluate this finding further, we assessed hostility structure and psychiatric symptoms in 33 Sjögren's syndrome patients and compared the results with those of 33 healthy women, and 41 women with solid malignant tumors. The utilized psychometric instruments were the hostility and direction of hostility questionnaire (HDHQ) and the symptom checklist 90R (SCL-90R). High levels of introverted hostility were reported by SS patients in relation to the other two groups. Cancer and SS patients reported higher scores on anxiety and depressive symptoms compared to the healthy women, but the differences were not significant. In addition, high scores on paranoid ideation, somatization and obsessive compulsive symptoms were found in SS patients compared to the cancer and healthy controls. The results strongly suggest that psychiatric disorders are common in primary SS patients, who may need appropriate therapy.

Anxiety↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Psychiatric symptoms associated with scleroderma.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of psychiatric symptoms and hostility factors in patients with scleroderma, although a matter of clinical interest, it is rather poorly studied. METHODS: Thirty female patients with scleroderma were investigated. Thirty-three healthy women were used as a comparison group. The applied psychometric instruments were the Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire (HDHQ), the Delusions Symptoms States Inventory/states of Anxiety and Depression (DSSI/sAD) and the Symptom Check List-90R (SCL-90R). RESULTS: The scleroderma patients reported significantly increased depression and anxiety, somatization, interpersonal sensitivity and obsessive-compulsiveness. Paranoid ideation and psychotic symptoms scores were also increased. On hostility, they presented significantly higher scores predominantly on guilt. CONCLUSIONS: Psychiatric symptomatology in the form of anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsiveness, somatization and feelings of guilt were reported by the majority of the patients with scleroderma.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Neuropsychiatric abnormalities in primary Sjögren's syndrome.

Neuropsychiatric abnormalities were searched for in 52 patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS). 40 patients were evaluated with a detailed neurologic history and physical examination and determination of terminal latencies and nerve conduction velocities of all limbs. Nineteen of them, plus another 12 primary SS patients were evaluated for hostility structure and psychiatric symptoms, using the Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire (HDHQ) and the Symptoms Check List-90R (SCL-90R) respectively and the results were compared with those of 33 healthy women and 41 cancer patients. Three patients had face numbness and/or hypesthesia indicating trigeminal involvement. Ten had mild sensory or mixed neuropathy of the glove-stocking type. None of our patients volunteered peripheral nervous system (PNS) symptoms nor did we detect central nervous system (CNS) involvement in any of them. One patient with purpura, glomerulonephritis and cryoglobulinemia presented with severe mononeuritis multiplex. High levels of introverted hostility were reported by SS patients in relation to the other two groups. In addition, higher scores on paranoid ideation, somatization and obsessive compulsiveness were found in SS patients compared to the rest but no correlation was found between psychiatric symptomatology and neurologic abnormalities. It is suggested that PNS disease is relatively common and benign in most primary SS patients, psychiatric disorders, sometimes serious, are also common, but CNS involvement must be rather rare.

Adult↗