Prevalence, comorbidities and mediators of childhood anxiety disorders in urban Turkey: a national representative epidemiological study.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of anxiety disorders, its correlation with sociodemographic characteristics, its comorbidities with other psychiatric disorders and its predictors in school-aged children. METHODS: This study is part of a representative, multi-centered national study that is planned by the Turkish Association of Child and Adolescent Mental Health to evaluate the prevalence of psychopathology among elementary school students in Turkey between the years 2014-2015. Children are screened via Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Age Children Present and Lifetime Version. Impairment is assessed by a 3-point Likert type scale independently by the parent and the teacher. The final sample included 5842 children with the mean age of 8.7 years. RESULTS: The prevalence of any anxiety disorder without considering impairment is 16.7% and considering impairment is 5.2% in children according to our study. We found significant differences for comorbid Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Disruptive Behavior Disorder, Mood Disorders, Tic Disorders, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Enuresis Nocturna, Encopresis, and Intellectual Disability. Having a history of paternal physical disorder, living in the regions of Marmara, Mediterranean and Black Sea were found to be the main predictors of having childhood anxiety disorders according to the logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSION: Better understanding of childhood anxiety disorders, comorbid conditions and predictors will result in earlier diagnosis and more appropriate treatment.

Plasma protein oxidation is correlated positively with plasma iron levels and negatively with hemolysate zinc levels in sickle-cell anemia patients.

INTRODUCTION: Sickle-cell anemia (SCA) is a disease of high oxidative stress. The oxidative medium of SCA was evaluated by protein oxidation parameters and their correlation with lipids and ions were investigated both in the plasma and in the erythrocyte. METHODS: Blood samples were obtained from 15 steady-state patients with SCA, 10 carriers, and 10 controls. Plasma protein carbonyl, total sulfhydryl, total cholesterol, triglyceride, phospholipids, and bilirubin levels were determined by spectrophotometric methods. Plasma copper, zinc, and iron levels were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Levels of cholesterol, triglyceride, and ions were also determined in the hemolysate lipid extract. RESULTS: Patients had increased protein carbonyl and decreased total sulfhydryl levels compared with controls. Plasma cholesterol levels were lower than controls, and triglyceride levels were higher than carriers in patients with SCA. Plasma iron and hemolysate copper were higher in patients than carriers and controls. Plasma protein carbonyl levels were found to be correlated with plasma iron and hemolysate zinc levels in the patient group. CONCLUSION: Alterations of proteins, lipids, and ions in the plasma and erythrocyte of steady-state patients with SCA were demonstrated. Some of these alterations are related with each other and with the oxidative stress observed in the disease.

Diurnal IOP control with bimatoprost versus latanoprost in exfoliative glaucoma: a crossover, observer-masked, three-centre study.

AIM: To evaluate the diurnal intraocular pressure (IOP) control and safety of bimatoprost versus latanoprost in exfoliative glaucoma (XFG). METHODS: One eye of 129 consecutive patients with XFG (mean (SD) age 66.5 (8.3) years) was included in this prospective, observer-masked, three-centre, crossover comparison. After a 4-6 week medicine-free period patients were randomised to bimatoprost or latanoprost monotherapy for 3 months. Patients were then switched to the opposite treatment for another 3 months. At the end of the washout and the treatment periods diurnal IOP was measured at 0800, 1300, and 1800. RESULTS: At baseline the IOP (mean (SD)) was 28.0 (4.0), 26.9 (3.6), and 25.9 (3.6) mm Hg, at the three time points, respectively. Both treatments significantly reduced mean diurnal IOP at month 3. Mean diurnal IOP was 26.9 (3.5) mm Hg at baseline, 17.6 (3.3) mm Hg with bimatoprost, and 18.6 (3.6) mm Hg with latanoprost (p<0.0001). Furthermore, lower IOP values were obtained with bimatoprost at all time points (17.9 (3.4), 17.3 (3.3), and 17.6 (3.5) mm Hg, respectively) compared with latanoprost (18.7 (3.6), 18.5 (3.6), and 18.6 (4.1) mm Hg, respectively). The corresponding mean differences (0.8, 1.1, and 1.0 mm Hg, respectively) were all significant (p<0.001 for each comparison). Significantly more patients with XFG obtained a target diurnal IOP <17 mm Hg with bimatoprost than with latanoprost, 55/123 (45%) v 34/123 (28%); (p = 0.001), and significantly fewer patients were non-responders with bimatoprost than with latanoprost (5 v 13, p = 0.021). More patients reported at least one adverse event with bimatoprost than with latanoprost (58 v 41 at 3 months; p = 0.0003). CONCLUSION: This crossover study suggests that better diurnal IOP control is obtained with bimatoprost than with latanoprost in patients with XFG.