Validation of the Persian version of the brief assessment of cognition in schizophrenia in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls.

AIMS: The Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) is designed for assessment of cognitive function in patients with schizophrenia. Versions of the BACS in English and other languages have been shown to be as sensitive to cognitive dysfunction as a standard test battery, with the advantage of brief administration and scoring time. The present study aimed to test the concurrent validity of the Persian version of the BACS (Persian-BACS). METHODS: A group of 50 patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and a group of 50 healthy controls received the Persian-BACS in a first session, and in a second session a standard neurocognitive battery. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha for the Persian-BACS was 0.74. All the Persian-BACS subscales were significantly correlated with the corresponding standard neurocognitive subscales and the Pearson correlation of the composite scores from the two instruments was 0.71. Moreover, a one-factor solution was found that accounted for 67.9% of the variance. Finally, the Persian-BACS demonstrated high ability to discriminate patients with schizophrenia from healthy controls. CONCLUSION: Good psychometric properties of the Persian-BACS suggest that it is a useful tool for assessing cognition in schizophrenic patients with Persian as their primary language.

Familial trichotillomania: role of genetic factors in the determination of subtypes.

OBJECTIVES: Trichotillomania (TTM) is a psychiatric syndrome characterised by the inability to control repetitive hair pulling. Psychiatric data reveal that TTM is not usually prevalent among all family members of patients, and so far only one case of familial TTM has been reported. METHODS: In this study, we report a case of familial TTM that afflicted four sisters and discuss the importance of genetic factors in this disorder. RESULTS: This report suggests that, similar to many other psychiatric disorders, TTM can be detected in other family members and that genetic factors not only have a significant role in the development of such disorders but also in determination of the disorder subtype. This report also shows that the comorbidities in one member of the family might predict the existence of comorbidities in other members. On the basis of response to medication. CONCLUSION: the authors suggest that a genetic disorder like polymorphism in serotonin receptors or dopamine can cause such a disorder.

Depression. Does it affect the comprehension of receptive skills?

OBJECTIVE: To compare the comprehension of depressed and non-depressed male and female Iranian learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in receptive skills, and to investigate whether inefficiency in learning English could be due to depression. METHODS: We selected 126 boys and 96 girls aged between 15 and 18 by simple random sampling from 2 high schools in Kerman, Iran to examine whether there was any significant relationship between depression and comprehension of receptive skills in males and females. We undertook this descriptive, correlational study between January and May 2011 in Kerman, Iran. After administration of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), we found that 93 students were non-depressed, 65 had minimal depression, 48 mild depression, and 16 suffered from severe depression. RESULTS: The correlation between participants` scores on listening and reading test with depression level indicated a significant relationship between depression and comprehension of both listening, and reading. Males had higher scores in both reading and listening. In listening, there was no significant difference among the levels of depression and males and females. Regarding the reading skill, there was no significant difference among levels of depression; however, the reading comprehension of males and females differed significantly. CONCLUSION: Learners who show a deficiency in receptive skills should be examined for the possibility of suffering from some degree of depression.

Periodic catatonia. Challenging diagnosis for psychiatrists.

Periodic catatonia (PC) is a rare type of catatonia syndrome, in which the catatonic phases often repeat regularly. Between the catatonic periods, the symptoms totally disappear and make the diagnosis difficult. We report a case with PC who did not show any catatonic symptoms except anxiety and restlessness in his first referral to the hospital. Although it was reported that he showed the symptoms of the disorder such as mutism, and immobility, he was not hospitalized. In his next referral (24 hours later), he was referred with catatonic symptoms and was hospitalized. The periods of catatonia were repeated regularly before electroconvulsive therapy, so the primary diagnosis was PC. During treatment with ECT, based on the semi-structured interview, a diagnosis of bipolar mood disorder was made. Due to the disappearance of symptoms between catatonic periods, this disorder may be underestimated and treatment postponed.

Associations between components of metabolic syndrome and cognition in patients with schizophrenia.

The metabolic syndrome and cognitive dysfunctions are common in patients with schizophrenia, yet there is no general consensus concerning the effects of the components of the metabolic syndrome on various cognitive domains. The goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between components of the metabolic syndrome and cognition in patients with schizophrenia. Components of the metabolic syndrome and neurocognitive functioning were assessed in 68 patients with schizophrenia. The Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) was used to assess neurocognition. Hyperglycemia and hypertension were the only components of the metabolic syndrome found to be associated with cognitive functioning. Patients with schizophrenia who were hypertensive showed cognitive impairments in 2 domains, with a negative association found between hypertension and verbal memory (P=0.047) and verbal fluency (P=0.007). Hyperglycemia was associated with higher scores on verbal memory (P=0.01) and verbal fluency (P<0.001). It appears that medical treatment of certain components of the metabolic syndrome could affect cognitive performance in patients with schizophrenia.