Tobacco use in first-episode psychosis, a multinational EU-GEI study.

BACKGROUND: Tobacco is a highly prevalent substance of abuse in patients with psychosis. Previous studies have reported an association between tobacco use and schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between tobacco use and first-episode psychosis (FEP), age at onset of psychosis, and specific diagnosis of psychosis. METHODS: The sample consisted of 1105 FEP patients and 1355 controls from the European Network of National Schizophrenia Networks Studying Gene-Environment Interactions (EU-GEI) study. We assessed substance use with the Tobacco and Alcohol Questionnaire and performed a series of regression analyses using case-control status, age of onset of psychosis, and diagnosis as outcomes and tobacco use and frequency of tobacco use as predictors. Analyses were adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics, alcohol, and cannabis use. RESULTS: After controlling for cannabis use, FEP patients were 2.6 times more likely to use tobacco [p ⩽ 0.001; adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 2.6; 95% confidence interval (CI) [2.1-3.2]] and 1.7 times more likely to smoke 20 or more cigarettes a day (p = 0.003; AOR 1.7; 95% CI [1.2-2.4]) than controls. Tobacco use was associated with an earlier age at psychosis onset (ß = -2.3; p ⩽ 0.001; 95% CI [-3.7 to -0.9]) and was 1.3 times more frequent in FEP patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia than in other diagnoses of psychosis (AOR 1.3; 95% CI [1.0-1.8]); however, these results were no longer significant after controlling for cannabis use. CONCLUSIONS: Tobacco and heavy-tobacco use are associated with increased odds of FEP. These findings further support the relevance of tobacco prevention in young populations.

Quality of life measures in schizophrenia.

The recognition of the importance of evaluating the quality of life of patients with schizophrenia highlighted the importance of developing appropriate instruments. In this paper we review the available quality of life instruments focusing on their conceptual framework, structure, administration and psychometric properties. First, we address the generic instruments that have been validated for schizophrenic populations, namely the World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment (WHOQOL), the Medical Outcome Study (MOS) 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the EuroQoL-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D). Then, we focus on instruments that have been specifically developed for patients with schizophrenia and other or severe mentally illness such as the Quality of Life Scale (QLS), the Quality of Life Interview (QoLI), the Lancashire Quality of Life Profile (LQoLP), the Sevilla Quality of Life Questionnaire (SQLQ), the Personal Evaluation of Transitions in Treatment (PETIT), and the Quality of Life Questionnaire in Schizophrenia (S-QoL).

[Sleep, organic deterioration and general health in the aging population. Study in a basic health zone of Oviedo]. / Sueño, deterioro orgánico y salud general en población involutiva. Estudio en una zona básica de salud de Oviedo.

An epidemiologic approach to the involutive general population was made to detect patients and risk group of insomnia. The survey was carried out in one health area of Oviedo, during the winter of 1990. A total of 329 elderly persons were interviewed, and three questionnaires were used: the G.H.Q., MMSE and a questionnaire "ad hoc". In the study, sleep disorders were correlated with level of general health (Golberg) and cognitive impairment (MMSE).

[Thematic Apperception Test: psychodiagnosis in heroin-dependent patients]. / T.A.T.: psicodiagnóstico en pacientes heroinómanos.

The aim of our work is the search of some differential psychopathologic features or categories in the personality of the heroin addict, through the application of Murray TAT. Which, we try to contrast with another contributions carried out until the present time. On the other hand, other parameters of sociolaboral and demographic character have been valued. We do not detect a structure of uniform personality, through we observe clear differences with respect to people who are not dependent on drugs. According to the results we have found, there are a larger number of psychopathologic elements in the whole of the heroin addict personality, as a greater low self-esteem, a suicidal inclination, a problematic with authority models, an evasión of aggressiveness, feelings of anxiety and quiltiness, without being a universal pattern.

[Psychopathologic traits of patients addicted to heroin]. / Rasgos psicopatológicos en pacientes heroinómanos.

The aim of our work is the search for some differential psychopathologic features in the heroin addict personality, through the 16 PF of Cattell (A form), which we try to contrast with other contributions from studies carried out up to the present. Moreover, other parameters of demographic and socioeconomic interest have been evaluated. Through the results we have gotten, it seems that there is a larger number of psychopathologic elements in the personality of the heroin addict, such as greater introversion, frustration, culpability, radicalism, self-sufficiency, anxiety, over-excitement, actions influenced by their feelings, and a minor acceptance of the rules of the group, though these features do not constitute a standard structure of personality.