Breast cancer risk among women with psychiatric admission with affective or neurotic disorders: a nationwide cohort study in Denmark.
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There is a considerable interest in the possible relationship between psychosocial factors and the onset of breast cancer. This cohort study was based upon two nationwide and population-based central registers: The Danish Psychiatric Central Register, which contains all cases of psychiatric admissions, and The Danish Cancer Registry, which contains all cases of cancer. The register-linkage was accomplished by using a personal identification number. The study population comprised all women admitted to psychiatric departments or psychiatric hospitals in Denmark between 1969 and 1993 with an affective or a neurotic disorder. Overall, 66,648 women comprising 199,910 admissions and 775,522 person-years were included. The incidence of breast cancer in the cohort was compared with the national breast cancer incidence rates adjusted for age and calendar time. In all, 1270 women with affective or neurotic disorders developed breast cancer subsequent to the first admission as compared with the 1242 women expected, standardized incidence ratio (SIR) = 1.02 (95% confidence interval 0.97-1.08). None of the hypothetical risk factors: type of diagnosis, age or calendar period at cohort entry, age at breast cancer, alcohol abuse, alcohol/drug abuse without further specification, total number of admissions, total length of admissions, or time from first admission showed a statistically significant effect on the relative risk of breast cancer. We found no support for the hypothesis that women admitted to a psychiatric department with an affective or a neurotic disorder subsequently have an increased risk of breast cancer. (+info)
Antinuclear antibodies in psychiatric illness: their relationship to diagnosis and drug treatment.
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Antinuclear antibodies occurred more often and in higher titres in psychiatric patients than in controls. Anti-DNA antibodies were not found. We suggest that antinuclear antibodies may be drug-induced and that lithium carbonate may have a particular tendency to produce this reaction. (+info)
Platelet monoamine oxidase activity, ego strength, and neuroticism in soldiers with combat-related current posttraumatic stress disorder.
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AIM: To assess possible differences in platelet monoamino oxidase-B (MAO-B) activity, ego strength, and neuroticism in combat-experienced soldiers with or without current posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). METHOD: The soldiers with current PTSD (N=36) and a control group of 34 healthy soldiers were matched in combat experience, time passed between combat experience and the study, demographic variables (age, marital status, education), and smoking status. Platelet MAO-B was assayed fluorometrically, ego strength was measured by the Croatian version of the Ego Identity Scale, and neuroticism by the N-scale from Eysenck's EPQ-R questionnaire. RESULTS: Soldiers with combat-related current PTSD had lower platelet MAO-B activity than the control group (9.1+/-3.9 vs. 11.9+/-4.0; p<0.05), as well as lower ego-strength (86.3+/-8.3 vs. 108.6+/-13.4; p<0.05) and higher neuroticism (23.5+/-13.2 vs. 5. 9+/-4.7; p<0.05). There was no association of ego strength or neuroticism with platelet MAO-B activity. CONCLUSION: Ego identity strength and emotional stability are associated with successful coping with combat trauma. The involvement of platelet MAO-B activity in biological basis of ego strength and neuroticism could not be demonstrated. (+info)
Time in bed, quality of sleep and school functioning of children.
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This study describes the relationship of time in bed and quality of sleep with concentration and functioning at school. Neurotic and psychosomatic symptoms have been used as control variables. The sample consisted of 449 Dutch children in the seventh and eighth grades of elementary school. The age of the children varied between 9 y 5 mo and 14 y 5 mo. Seven schools participated in the research, with a total of 18 classes. The results indicated that 43% of the children had difficulty getting up in the morning. Furthermore, 15% of the children reported sleep problems and 25% did not feel rested at school. Time in bed and sleep quality show no relationship with concentration. Sleep quality, feeling rested at school and less distinct bedtimes were clearly related to school functioning. Another result was that children who had no difficulty getting up displayed more achievement motivation. Being open to the teacher's influence and achievement motivation depended mainly on sleep characteristics. Not getting bored at school, self-image as a pupil and control over aggressive behaviour were also influenced by gender, age, neuroticism and neurosomaticism. (+info)
A new method for the screening of unidentified complaints syndrome in pre-, mid- and post-menopausal women.
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A new simple test for the screening of pre-, mid- and post-menopausal women with unidentified complaints overlaid by psychiatric disorders has been devised. This test is performed by intravenous injection of conjugated estrogen and by comparing Kupperman's menopausal indices before and after the injection. That is, the discriminant function between groups with and without psychiatric abnormalities was obtained from Kupperman's menopausal indices before and after intravenous injection of conjugated estrogen, and from this function was made a calculative differential diagnosis between the two groups. The calculative diagnosis agreed fairly well with the clinical diagnosis by the psychiatrist. (+info)
Non-psychotic psychiatric disorder and subsequent risk of schizophrenia. Cohort study.
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BACKGROUND: Those with schizophrenia often give a history of premorbid non-psychotic psychiatric disorder. AIMS: To investigate the association between non-psychotic psychiatric disorders and the later development of schizophrenia. METHOD: Men aged 18 or 19 years, conscripted to the Swedish army in 1970 (n=50 054) were linked to the Swedish National Psychiatric Case Register. RESULTS: There was an increased risk of schizophrenia in those with ICD-8 diagnoses of neurosis (OR=4.6,95% Cl 3.2-6.9), personality disorder (OR=8.2, 95% Cl 5.4-12.3), alcohol abuse (OR=5.5, 95% Cl 1.7-17.5) or substance abuse (OR=14.0, 95% Cl 7.8-25.0) at age 18. Of those who developed schizophrenia, 38% (95% Cl 32-45) received a diagnosis of non-psychotic psychiatric disorder at age 18. Only those with personality disorder had a significantly increased risk of schizophrenia (OR=2.4, 95% Cl 1.1-5.2) with onset after age 23. CONCLUSIONS: Personality factors could represent an underlying vulnerability to schizophrenia. Other diagnoses occurring before schizophrenia may reflect a prodromal phase of the illness. (+info)
Personality disorders and normal personality dimensions in obsessive-compulsive disorder.
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BACKGROUND: Little is known about personality disorders and normal personality dimensions in relatives of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). AIMS: To determine whether specific personality characteristics are part of a familial spectrum of OCD. METHOD: Clinicians evaluated personality disorders in 72 OCD case and 72 control probands and 198 case and 207 control first-degree relatives. The selfcompleted Revised NEO Personality Inventory was used for assessment of normal personality dimensions. The prevalence of personality disorders and scores on normal personality dimensions were compared between case and control probands and between case and control relatives. RESULTS: Case probands and case relatives had a high prevalence of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) and high neuroticism scores. Neuroticism was associated with OCPD in case but not control relatives. CONCLUSIONS: Neuroticism and OCPD may share a common familial aetiology with OCD. (+info)
Exposure to organic solvents and personality.
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OBJECTIVES: Although cognitive and neuropsychological changes have been found after high cumulative exposures to solvents, it is not clear whether such exposures are associated with personality characteristics. To study this two groups of British and Chinese dockyard painters who had been heavily exposed to paint solvents have been investigated. METHODS: 260 Male dockyard painters in the United Kingdom, 539 local community controls, 109 Chinese dockyard painters, and 255 dockyard controls completed the Eysenck personality questionnaire, neuroticism (N) and social conformity or dissimulation (L) scales. The non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test was used to evaluate differences in scores of personality traits between painters and controls. Adjusted relative risks for painters having high N and L scores were calculated in a Breslow-Cox regression analysis, and exposure-response relations were examined in multivariate logistic regression analysis. Non-parametric Spearman's correlation was used to examine relations between previously determined neuropsychological symptoms and personality. RESULTS: Both British and Chinese data showed that mean neuroticism scores of painters were significantly higher than controls, whereas scores of social conformity did not differ. Relative risk of being a painter increased significantly with increasing N scores, but L scores showed no such trend. In a case-control analysis, there were significant exposure-response relations for the N score. In the United Kingdom the odds ratios (ORs) (95% confidence interval (95% CI), were 2.03 (0.79 to 5.22) for 1-4 years of exposure, 2.38 (0.82 to 6.91) for 5-9 years, 7.05 (1.27 to 39.25) for 10-14 years, and 1.76 (0.63 to 4.89) for 15-41 years. In the Chinese painters, ORs were 4.66 (1.38 to 15.75) for 2-14 years, 10.03 (2.96 to 34.04) for 15-18 years, and 13.56 (3.78 to 48.59) for 19-43 years. Neuroticism was significantly positively related to neuropsychological symptoms in all subjects. Social conformity showed no association with neuropsychological symptoms in British painters and a negative relation among the Chinese painters. CONCLUSION: Increasing symptoms suggesting neuroticism seemed to relate to the duration of painting whereas scores for social conformity and dissimulation did not. The relation between exposure time and response suggests that increased neuroticism may be caused by long term occupational exposure to organic solvents. (+info)