[Epidemiology, diagnostics and treatment of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in advanced age]. / Epidemiologie, Diagnostik und Therapie der Aufmerksamkeitsdefizit-Hyperaktivitäts-Störung (ADHS) im höheren Lebensalter.

Current studies demonstrate a comparably high prevalence of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in advanced age. Older people affected by ADHD suffer from a severe burden of psychiatric and somatic comorbidities as well as substantial impairment of social functioning and subjective well-being. The diagnostic differentiation from neurodegenerative diseases is particularly difficult in this age group. This narrative review summarizes the current knowledge about the epidemiology of ADHD in advanced age and possible relationships between ADHD and the risk for neurodegeneration. Furthermore, recommendations for diagnostics and treatment options of ADHD in advanced age are presented.

[Shortened Treatment Concepts in Forensic Commitment According to Section 64 of the German Penal Code: A Tailored Treatment Pathway?] / Verkürzte Therapiekonzepte im Maßregelvollzug gemäß §64 StGB: Ein maßgeschneiderter Behandlungspfad?

Die forensische Therapie gemäß §64 StGB zeichnet sich aktuell durch hohe Abbruch- bzw. Erledigungsquoten aus. Das hier vorgestellte verkürzte Therapiekonzept der Klinik für Forensische Psychiatrie des Pfalzklinikums für Patienten mit günstigen Prognosemerkmalen soll durch Förderung von Eigeninitiative, Verantwortung und Motivation sowie eine möglichst individualisierte, störungsorientierte, strafzeit- und tatangemessene Behandlung mit intensiver Erprobung unter Alltagsbedingungen zu einer Verkürzung der stationären Unterbringung führen. Empirische Belege hierfür fehlen jedoch bislang. Erstmals werden hier Pilotdaten aus dem Zeitraum April 2016 bis Mai 2021 vorgestellt. Zusammenfassend hat sich das o.g. Konzept als umsetzbar erwiesen. Die erhobenen Daten weisen darauf hin, dass die im verkürzten Therapieprogramm behandelten Patienten eine geringere Erledigungsquote als der Durchschnitt aller gemäß §64 StGB untergebrachter Patienten aufweist. Eine deutliche Verkürzung der durchschnittlichen Behandlungsdauer ließ sich demgegenüber jedoch nicht belegen. Die vorliegende Arbeit will einen ersten Beitrag zur Diskussion und Weiterentwicklung derartiger Behandlungsoptionen leisten. Mögliche Nachteile derartiger Therapieangebote bei für ungeeignet befundenen Patienten, z. B. eine Abnahme der Therapiemotivation, werden diskutiert.Forensic therapy according to section 64 of the German penal code is currently characterized by high drop-out rates. The shortened therapy concept of the Department of Forensic Psychiatry of the Pfalzklinikum focusing on patients with favorable prognostic characteristics presented here is intended to lead to a shortening of hospital stay by promoting initiative, responsibility and motivation. It is supposed to provide a treatment as individualized and disorder-oriented as possible and appropriate to the individual time of detention as well as the specific kind of offense with intensified testing under everyday conditions. However, so far empirical evidence for this concept is lacking. For the first time, pilot data for the period from April 2016 to May 2021 are presented here. The concept described herein has proven to be feasible. The collected data hint at a lower drop-out rate of patients treated according the shortened therapy concept compared to the average of all patients assigned to forensic treatment according to section 64 of the German penal code. Yet, there was no evidence for a significant shortening of hospital stay. The present work aims at making a first contribution to the discussion and further development of such treatment options. Possible disadvantages for patients who are found to be unsuitable, e. g. those with a decrease in therapeutic motivation, are discussed.

[Heterogeneous neuropsychiatric phenotypes in two adult patients with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (DiGeorge's syndrome): a case for RDoC?] / Heterogene neuropsychiatrische Phänotypen bei zwei erwachsenen Patient*innen mit 22q11.2-Deletionssyndrom (DiGeorge-Syndrom): ein Fall für RDoC?

DiGeorge's syndrome is one of the most frequent microdeletion syndromes and is associated with a high risk for neuropsychiatric disorders of intelligence, social communication and executive functioning as well as psychotic disorders. The male patient described here represents one of the rare descriptions of Tourette's syndrome on the basis of a 22q11.2 microdeletion syndrome. The following two case studies demonstrate the variety of related clinical presentations. A characterization of these patients in a clinical and scientific context by the means of Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) enables a transdiagnostic description of overlapping as well as specific neuropsychiatric functional impairments. Possibly, this dimensional characterization might also facilitate a more exact differentiation of pleiotropic associations between genotype and phenotype.

[Validity of the "Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology" [SIMS] in the Assessment of Healthy Individuals and Patients with Psychiatric Disorders Outside the Forensic Context]. / Validität des "Strukturierten Fragebogens Simulierter Symptome" [SIMS] bei gesunden Probanden und Patienten mit psychiatrischen Erkrankungen außerhalb eines forensischen Kontexts.

OBJECTIVE: Assessment of the rate of false-positive results of the Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology (SIMS) in healthy controls and authentic patients outside the forensic or rehabilitative context. METHODS: Beyond the SIMS scores, further variables (PANSS, Hamilton scale, MMSE) were obtained. SIMS scores of healthy individuals were compared with the SIMS scores of the different groups of patients. Additionally, correlations between the SIMS scores and other variables were investigated. RESULTS: Patients with psychotic disorders (n=30) or depressive episodes (n=32) more frequently achieved SIMS scores >16 as compared to healthy controls. In comparison, patients with amnestic disorders (n=15) had inconspicuous SIMS scores. Depressed patients with positive SIMS results were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with another psychiatric disorder and the scores of these patients on the Hamilton scale were correlated with positive results on 2 subscales of the SIMS (NI, AF). CONCLUSION: If this instrument is to applied in clinical practice in the future, further validation of the SIMS is necessary. The specificity of the SIMS seems to be context-related.

[The domain "social processes" in the system of research domain criteria: current state and perspectives]. / Die Domäne "soziale Prozesse" im System der Research Domain Criteria: aktueller Stand und Perspektive.

Social processes and their dysfunction, e.g. in autism spectrum disorders and psychotic disorders, have always been at the core of psychiatry. The last decades have led to impressive advances in our understanding of the underlying neurobiological mechanisms and also in the way we study and analyze social processes. Since their establishment, the research domain criteria have provided a powerful framework of how to operationalize and subdivide complex social processes in a way that it closely aligns to underlying neurobiological substrates while still enabling clinical approaches. In this article we summarize and discuss the most important findings for each of the four fundamental constructs of the social processes domain (a) binding and attachment, (b) social communication, (c) perception and understanding of self and (d) perception and understanding of others. We highlight the clinical relevance of the insights generated by the field of social neurosciences and discuss the resulting increasing importance of transdiagnostic concepts in applied research. Finally, we showcase three innovative research methods that build on the accelerating technological advances of the last decade and which will increasingly enable the study of complex social interactions in more realistic and ecologically valid settings.

Female sex and burden of depressive symptoms predict insufficient response to telemedical treatment in adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: results from a naturalistic patient cohort during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a chronic neuropsychiatric disorder, that typically manifests itself during childhood and persists in a majority of the affected individuals into adulthood, negatively affecting physical and mental health. Previous studies have shown detrimental effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in individuals with ADHD. Thus, telemedicine could be a useful tool for optimizing treatment-outcomes in adult ADHD by improving treatment adherence and persistence. However, data on telemedical treatment outcomes in adult patients with ADHD is scarce. Methods: We report here the sub-cohort analysis of a naturalistic cohort of adult patients (N = 254) recruited between April 2020-April 2021, comparing the effects of telemedical treatment on participants either clinically diagnosed with depression (N = 54) or ADHD (N = 67). Participants were asked to fill out the WHO-5 repetitively during >12 weeks of telemedical treatment. Furthermore scores of WHO-5, SCL-90R and BDI-II, psychopathology, psychosocial functioning, sociodemographic data, medical records and a feedback survey were analyzed for both groups and compared. Participants with ADHD were further stratified according to the development of well-being during the study period in order to identify factors associated with a satisfactory treatment outcome. Results: Participants with depression reported a significant improvement of well-being during the course of the study, while no such effect could be seen in participants with ADHD on a group level. Despite the good outcome, participants with depression were more severely affected at baseline, with significantly worse psychopathology and a more precarious labor and financial situation. A detailed analysis of ADHD participants without clinical improvement revealed significantly higher BDI-II scores than for ADHD participants with a satisfactory outcome (p = 0.03, Mann-Whitney-U-Test), suggesting successful treatment was hampered by the combination of ADHD and depressive symptoms. Furthermore, female sex among ADHD patients was correlated with an unfavorable treatment outcome during the course of the study (p = 0.001, Spearman correlation) as well as living with children (p = 0.02, Spearman correlation). Conclusion: Besides screening for depressive symptoms before telemedical treatment, future research should address the specific needs of female ADHD patients as these patients may be at a particularly high risk of being overburdened with family work.

Patients with affective disorders profit most from telemedical treatment: Evidence from a naturalistic patient cohort during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic telemedicine became essential in maintaining diagnostic procedures and treatment in psychiatry. However, it is still an open question if telemedicine is a feasible treatment option for all groups of psychiatric patients alike. This prospective monocentric observational trial was conducted to assess the general applicability of telemedical treatment in a naturalistic psychiatric outpatient cohort and to identify groups of disorders and clusters of psychopathology that respond particularly well to telemedical treatment considering sociodemographic characteristics and patients' perspectives. Methods: Patients were recruited April 2020-April 2021 and asked to fill out the WHO-5 and the SCL-90R at baseline, after 4-6 and 8-12 weeks and a feedback-survey. Additionally, medical records, psychopathology, psychosocial functioning, and socio-demographic data were analyzed. Primary outcomes were well-being, psychopathology and functioning during treatment. Secondly, diagnostic groups and psychopathology linked to a superior treatment-response were determined with respect to patients' subjective experiences. Results: Out of 1.385 patients, 254-mostly with hyperkinetic (35.3%) and depressive disorders (24.6%)-took part. Well-being and SCL-90R total scores improved substantially (both p < 0.001). CGI and GAF scores were worse in depressed subjects (both p < 0.05). Improvement was mainly seen in depressed patients; chronic disorders experienced a decline in well-being. Sociodemographic characteristics could not explain this difference. Particularly female (r = 0.413) patients found telepsychiatry equivalent to conventional treatment. The more virtual sessions participants attended the more likely they were to find telepsychiatry equal to conventional treatment (r = 0.231). Conclusion: Telemedicine is an effective treatment for patients with depression under naturalistic conditions. Telemedical consultations are a simple and reliable way of monitoring symptom severity and directing treatment choices during the treatment of depressive disorders. Patients with depression benefited more from telemedical treatment compared to participants with chronic non-episodic psychiatric disorders. Future research needs to concentrate on improving telemedical treatment options suited for the latter conditions. Psychiatric telemedicine yielded overall high degrees of satisfaction among users.