Abstract
Objective. Refugees have had major challenges to meet their health care needs throughout history especially in war zones and natural disaster times. The health care needs of Syrian refugees ...have been becoming an increasingly important issue. We aimed to examine the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and explore its relation with various socioeconomic variables among Syrian refugees, who sought asylum in Turkey. Methods. This cross-sectional study was conducted in a tent city. Sample size calculation yielded 352 and the participants of the study were determined randomly. Experienced and native Arabic speaking, psychiatrist evaluated the participants. Results. The frequency of PTSD was 33.5%. Through the binary logistic regression analysis, we calculated that the probability of having PTSD among Syrian refugees in our sample was 71%, if they had the following features: with female gender; being diagnosed with psychiatric disorder in the past; having a family history of psychiatric disorder; and experiencing 2 or more traumas. Conclusions. The findings of our study suggest that PTSD among Syrian refugees in Turkey might be an important mental health issue in refugee camps especially among female refugees, who were exposed to 2 or more traumatic events and had a personal or family history of psychiatric disorder.
In our study, we aimed to examine Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) findings in patients diagnosed with methamphetamine use disorder (MUD) by comparing them with healthy controls.
Sixty-five people ...were included in our study and 130 eyes were evaluated; 33 cases were included in the patient group with MUD according to DSM-5 diagnostic criteria and 32 as the healthy control group. Detailed biomicroscopic examinations and then both eyes were evaluated through OCT by the same ophthalmologist.
There was no statistically significant difference between the patient and control groups in terms of gender and age (p > 0.05). When the OCT findings were evaluated, the measurements of the patients in any quadrant for retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) were not statistically different from the control group (p > 0.05). Macula and choroidal layer thickness did not differ between the groups (p > 0.05). Only right intraocular pressure was found to be decreased in the patient group (p = 0.026).
There are a limited number of studies examining OCT findings in patients with MUD. Visual symptoms and intraocular pressure should be considered when evaluating patients with MUD and planning their treatment. In addition; in order for OCT findings to gain importance, which can be used as an effective method to show the possible neurodegeneration that may occur in substance use disorder, it should be supported with further research.
Psychiatric disorders are common in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS); however, interrelating factors influencing psychiatric comorbidity (PC) in OSAS are unclear. The aim of this study is to ...investigate gender related differences with PC in OSAS.
Data of patients diagnosed as OSAS in University of Gaziantep from January 2006 to January 2010 were retrospectively evaluated. Polysomnographic data were recorded with Viasys Sleep Screen (Viasys Healthcare, Germany). Patients younger than 18 years old were excluded.
PC was present in 53.1% of OSAS patients. The rate of male subjects with PC was 42.6%; however, 76.26% of females had PC (P = 0.00). Age (P = 0.00) and body mass index (BMI) (P = 0.00) were higher in patients with PC. Ferritin levels were lower in patients with PC (P = 0.00). Male subjects with PC were older and had lower sleep efficiency and longer rapid eye movement latency than males without PC. BMI was the only contributory factor to PC in female subjects.
PC in OSAS is common, especially in females. Apnea hypopnea index does not seem to influence probability of PC.
Abstract Background Recent researches suggest oxidative stress and generalized inflammatory state to be associated with bipolar I disorder (BID). Our aim is to evaluate Myeloperoxidase (MPO) and ...Catalase (CAT) activities in BID. Methods 73 BID patients and 73 healthy controls were enrolled. Patients were classified into manic, depressive and euthymic state. Serum MPO and CAT were measured in both patients and controls. Results CAT activity was significantly lower in controls than manic, depressive and euthymics ( p <0.001). MPO activity was significantly higher in controls compared to euthymics ( p =0.007) and it was significantly higher in depressives compared to euthymics ( p =0.023). CAT was negatively and MPO was positively correlated with disease duration in overall the patients. Positive Predictive Value was 94.5% and Negative Predictive Value was 100% above the cutoff point for CAT activity. Conclusion MPO and CAT activities are impaired in BID, which may be associated with oxidative stress and inflammation.
Lorazepam and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are effective treatments for catatonia. However, systematic data on these treatments in catatonia are limited. In the present study, we aimed to ...investigate the clinical and treatment-related characteristics of patients with catatonia who underwent lorazepam and/or ECT.
Between January 2012 and December 2016, we received 60 patients with catatonia hospitalized in the Gaziantep University Faculty of Medicine Clinic of Psychiatry. Lorazepam and/or ECT were used in the patients' treatment schedule. Treatment results were evaluated using the Bush-Francis Catatonia Rating Scale and Clinical Global Impression-Improvement.
Thirty-five patients (58.3%) in the sample were in their first catatonic episode. The most common comorbidity was mood disorder (n = 34, 56.7%), whereas the most frequent catatonic sign was mutism (n = 43, 71.7%). Moreover, 31 patients (51.7%) had some form of medical comorbidity. Cerebral abnormalities were detected in computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging in 22 patients (36.7%). Furthermore, 95% of the patients (n = 57) fully recovered after administration of the treatment.
Lorazepam is a reasonable initial choice in the treatment of catatonia, with rapid consideration for ECT if there is no rapid response to lorazepam.
We aimed to compare the electrocardiographic parameters in patients with methamphetamine use to healthy controls.
The study is a cross-sectional case-control study. Sixty-eight patients diagnosed ...with methamphetamine use disorder (MUD) according to DSM-5 criteria and 65 subjects in healthy control group who can match the patient group with demographic data were included in the study. Heart rate, P wave dispersion, QT dispersion, QTc and Tp-e/QTc ratios were calculated in the ECGs of all participants.
The mean age of the patients was 25.60 ± 5.70 and of the control group was 27.43 ± 6.10 (p = 0.076). There was no statistically significant difference between the blood pressure, body mass index, HDL-LDL-total cholesterol and triglyceride values of the participants (p > 0.05). Although QT dispersion was 13.68 ± 9.12 in patients with methamphetamine use disorder, it was calculated as 9.08 ± 7.85 in the control group (p = 0.002). Finally, the Tp-e/QTc ratio of the patients was higher than the healthy controls (p = 0.014).
In our study, we found a significant deterioration in QT dispersion and Tp-e/QTc ratio in the MUD group. Therefore, it should be kept in mind that there is a risk of malignant arrhythmia in this patient group and care should be taken in terms of arrhythmic events during follow-up in this patient group.
Key points
Patients with methamphetamine use showed significant deterioration in QTd and Tp-e/QTc
Methamphetamine users have prolonged Tp-e/QTc ratio and QTd
Caution should be exercised in terms of arrhythmic events in methamphetamine users
We aimed to examine the electrocardiographic arrhythmia risk predictors in patients with opioid use disorder by P wave dispersion, QT dispersion, and by comparing Tp-e/QTc ratio with healthy ...controls.
One hundred seventeen patients who were diagnosed with opioid use disorder according to DSM-5 criteria and who were hospitalized in 25 Aralık Gaziantep State Hospital AMATEM (Alcohol and substance addiction treatment center) service and a healthy control group consisting of 168 subjects were included in the study. Electrocardiography (ECG) scans of all participants were performed in the supine position and at rest. P wave dispersion, QT dispersion, and Tp-e/QTc ratio were calculated.
Of all the participants, 12 were women (4.21%), 273 (95.78%) were men. The mean age of all participants was 30.42 ± 9.36 years. No difference was found between the gender, mean age, marital status, educational level, and smoking status of the participants (p > 0.05). The entire patient group was using heroin. Heart rate of the patient group was calculated as 68.14 ± 13.26 beats per minute, being lower than healthy controls (p < 0.05). Although QT dispersion value was lower than healthy controls (p < 0.05); P wave dispersion did not differ between groups (p > 0.05).
It is thought that the patients with opioid use disorder are at risk for cardiac arrhythmia based on our findings. Therefore, physicians should be careful about cardiac rhythm and conduction problems while organizing any treatment of these patients.
The aim of this study was to identify types and number of traumatic experiences and to determine the predictors of severity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Syrian refugees who were ...residing in a camp in Turkey. Face-to-face psychiatric interviews were carried out with 342 participants to make a diagnosis of PTSD according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition, text revision (DSM-IV-TR) diagnostic criteria. A traumatic events list was administered to screen Criterion A traumatic experiences, and the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) was administered to assess the severity of PTSD. The prevalence of PTSD was 31.0% (n = 106). Among 86.8% of the refugees with PTSD, the CAPS score was at the level of severe and above. Female gender, total number of traumatic events, and age predicted the PTSD symptom severity. Married young women were the most affected group and violent loss of family members was the most frequent type of trauma among them. Given that the vast majority of Syrian refugees have already settled down in various towns of the country, those who were residing in camps possibly constituted an especially fragile subgroup. The participants represented a group with an extreme level of mass traumatization. Both future research and psychosocial services should address those with broken families as a potentially fragile subgroup among refugees.
