Frequency and severity of the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome across the anxiety disorders and depression.

Posted on October 15, 2008 by Maurice Preter MD
J Anxiety Disord. 2008 Aug 27. [Epub ahead of print]
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Frequency and severity of the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome across the anxiety disorders and depression.

Gros DF, Antony MM, McCabe RE, Swinson RP.

Mental Health Service, Ralph H. Johnson Veterans Administration Medical Center, Charleston, SC, United States; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, United States; Anxiety Treatment and Research Centre, St. Joseph’s Healthcare, Hamilton, ON, Canada.

High rates of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms have been reported in individuals diagnosed with anxiety and depressive disorders. However, most studies have investigated these relations in a single disorder, rather than a heterogeneous group of patients, thereby not allowing for comparisons across anxiety disorders and depression, or for considering the effects of comorbidity. Thus, the present study investigated the symptoms of IBS in a diverse group of patients (N=357) by administering questionnaires and a diagnostic interview. A high frequency of IBS symptoms was found in patients with panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and major depressive disorder. However, the frequency of IBS symptoms in patients with social anxiety disorder, specific phobia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder was comparable to rates found in community samples. In addition, anxiety sensitivity and illness attitudes and intrusiveness were predictive of elevated IBS symptomatology. Together, these findings emphasize the role physiological symptoms of anxiety and worry in the co-occurrence of the anxiety disorders and IBS.

PMID: 18819774 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]

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Psychiatric disturbances in CADASIL: a brief review.

Posted on April 7, 2008 by Maurice Preter MD
Acta Neurol Scand. 2008 Mar 31 [Epub ahead of print]
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Psychiatric disturbances in CADASIL: a brief review.
Valenti R, Poggesi A, Pescini F, Inzitari D, Pantoni L.
Department of Neurological and Psychiatric Sciences, University of Florence, Italy.
Background – Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is an inherited cerebrovascular disease, clinically characterized by a variable combination of migraine, recurrent transient ischemic attack (TIA) or lacunar strokes, cognitive decline, and mood disturbances. However, the assessment of psychiatric disturbances in this disease has never been carried out systematically. Methods – This paper presents a brief review of the literature regarding the occurrence of psychiatric disorders in CADASIL patients. Results – The prevalence of psychiatric disorders in CADASIL patients is reported to range from 20% to 41%. The psychiatric disturbances reported with the highest frequency are mood disturbances (9-41%). Pooling together the studies and considering a total of 454 CADASIL patients reported in the literature, 106 of these were affected by mood disturbances (24%). The majority of studies however did not use any defined criteria to assess the presence of psychiatric disorders and diagnoses were mainly based on history or review of clinical records. Conclusions – The review of CADASIL literature suggests the need for a more structured approach to the investigation of these disturbances that are highly prevalent and may greatly impact quality of life in these patients.
PMID: 18384453 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]
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Association of Preterm Birth With Long-term Survival, Reproduction, and Next-Generation Preterm Birth

Posted on April 2, 2008 by Maurice Preter MD
Association of Preterm Birth With Long-term Survival, Reproduction, and Next-Generation Preterm Birth
Geeta K. Swamy, MD; Truls Østbye, MD, PhD; Rolv Skjærven, PhD
JAMA. 2008;299(12):1429-1436.
Context Preterm birth is a major cause of infant morbidity and mortality. Less is known about long-term health among persons born preterm.
Objective To determine the long-term effects of preterm birth on survival, reproduction, and next-generation preterm birth.
Design, Setting, and Participants Population-based, observational, longitudinal study using registry data from 1 167 506 singleton births in the Medical Birth Registry of Norway in 1967-1988. The cohort was followed up through 2002 for survival. The cohort was truncated to births from 1967-1976 for assessment of educational achievement and reproductive outcomes through 2004.
Main Outcome Measures In relation to sex and gestational age at birth, absolute mortality, risk of fetal, infant, child, and adolescent mortality, and incidence and risk of reproduction and next-generation preterm birth. Singleton term (37-42 weeks) fetal deaths and live births, stratified by sex, served as the reference group for all analyses.
Results The percentage who were born preterm was higher among boys (5.6%) than among girls (4.7%). Preterm participants had an increased risk of mortality throughout childhood. For boys born at 22 to 27 weeks, mortality rates were 1.33% and 1.01% for early and late childhood death, with relative risks (RRs) of 5.3 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.0-14.2) and 7.0 (95% CI, 2.3-22.0), respectively. The mortality rate for girls born at 22 to 27 weeks was 1.71% for early childhood death, with an RR of 9.7 (95% CI, 4.0-23.7); there were no late childhood deaths. For 28 to 32 weeks, the early and late childhood mortality rates among boys were 0.73% and 0.37%, with RRs of 2.5 (95% CI, 1.6-3.7) and 2.3 (95% CI, 1.3-4.1), respectively. Girls born at 28 to 32 weeks did not have a significantly increased risk of childhood mortality. Reproduction was diminished for index participants born preterm. For men and women born at 22 to 27 weeks, absolute reproduction was 13.9% and 25%, with RRs of 0.24 (95% CI, 0.17-0.32) and 0.33 (95% CI, 0.26-0.42), respectively. For 28 to 32 weeks, absolute reproduction was 38.6% and 59.2% for men and women, with RRs of 0.7 (95% CI, 0.66-0.74) and 0.81 (95% CI, 0.78-0.85), respectively. Preterm women but not men were at increased risk of having preterm offspring.
Conclusion In persons born in Norway in 1967-1988, preterm birth was associated with diminished long-term survival and reproduction.
Author Affiliations: Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology (Dr Swamy) and Community and Family Medicine (Dr Østbye), Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina; Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore (Dr Østbye); Section for Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen (Dr Skjærven), and Medical Birth Registry of Norway, Norwegian Institute of Public Health (Dr Skjærven), Bergen, Norway.
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Childhood physical abuse in outpatients with psychosomatic symptoms.

Posted on April 2, 2008 by Maurice Preter MD
Biopsychosoc Med. 2008 Mar 21;2(1):8 [Epub ahead of print]
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Childhood physical abuse in outpatients with psychosomatic symptoms.
Handa M, Nukina H, Hosoi M, Kubo C.
ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: In Japan and Asia, few studies have been done of physical and sexual abuse. This study was aimed to determine whether a history of childhood physical abuse is associated with anxiety, depression and self-injurious behavior in outpatients with psychosomatic symptoms. METHODS: We divided 564 consecutive new outpatients at the Department of Psychosomatic Medicine of Kyushu University Hospital into two groups: a physically abused group and a non-abused group. Psychological test scores and the prevalence of self-injurious behavior were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: A history of childhood physical abuse was reported by patients with depressive disorders(12.7%), anxiety disorders(16.7%) , eating disorders (16.3%), pain disorders (10.8%), irritable bowel syndrome (12.5%), and functional dyspepsia(7.5%). In both the patients with depressive disorders and those with anxiety disorders, STAI-I (state anxiety) and STAI-II (trait anxiety) were higher in the abused group than in the non-abused group (p<0.05). In the patients with depressive disorders, the abused group was younger than the non-abused group (p<0.05). The prevalence of self-injurious behavior of the patients with depressive disorders, anxiety disorders and pain disorders was higher in the abused groups than in the non-abused groups (p<0.005). CONCLUSIONS: A history of childhood physical abuse is associated with psychological distress such as anxiety, depression and self-injurious behavior in outpatients with psychosomatic symptoms. It is important for physicians to consider the history of abuse in the primary care of these patients.
PMID: 18358076 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]
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Associations Between Vitamin D Status and Pain in Older Adults: The Invecchiare in Chianti Study.

Posted on March 16, 2008 by Maurice Preter MD

J Am Geriatr Soc. 2008 Mar 5 [Epub ahead of print]
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Associations Between Vitamin D Status and Pain in Older Adults: The Invecchiare in Chianti Study.
Hicks GE, Shardell M, Miller RR, Bandinelli S, Guralnik J, Cherubini A, Lauretani F, Ferrucci L.
Department of Physical Therapy, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA.
OBJECTIVES: To examine cross-sectional associations between vitamin D status and musculoskeletal pain and whether they differ by sex. DESIGN: Population-based study of persons living in the Chianti geographic area (Tuscany, Italy). SETTING: Community. PARTICIPANTS: Nine hundred fifty-eight persons (aged >/=65) selected from city registries of Greve and Bagno a Ripoli. MEASUREMENTS: Pain was categorized as mild or no pain in the lower extremities and back; moderate to severe back pain, no lower extremity pain; moderate to severe lower extremity pain, no back pain; and moderate to severe lower extremity and back pain (dual region). Vitamin D was measured according to radioimmunoassay, and deficiency was defined as 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) less than 25 nmol/L. RESULTS: The mean age+/-standard deviation was 75.1+/-7.3 for women and 73.9+/-6.8 for men. Fifty-eight percent of women had at least moderate pain in some location, compared with 27% of men. After adjusting for potential confounders, vitamin D deficiency was not associated with lower extremity pain or dual-region pain, although it was associated with a significantly higher prevalence of at least moderate back pain without lower extremity pain in women (odds ratio=1.96, 95% confidence interval=1.01-3.59) but not in men. CONCLUSION: Lower concentrations of 25(OH)D are associated with significant back pain in older women but not men. Because vitamin D deficiency and chronic pain are fairly prevalent in older adults, these findings suggest it may be worthwhile to query older adults about their pain and screen older women with significant back pain for vitamin D deficiency.
PMID: 18331295 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]

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