Temperament and character properties of primary focal hyperhidrosis patients.

BACKGROUND: Primary focal hyperhidrosis is a health problem, which has negative effects on the patient's quality of life and significantly affects the patients' daily activities, social and business life. The aim of this study is to evaluate temperament and character properties of patients diagnosed with primary focal hyperhidrosis. METHODS: Fifty-six primary focal hyperhidrosis (22.42 ± 7.80) and 49 control subjects (24.48 ± 5.17) participated in the study. Patients who met the diagnostic criteria for PFH were referred to psychiatry clinic where the subjects were evaluated through Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Disorders-I and Temperament and Character Inventory. RESULTS: In order to examine the difference between the PFH and control group in terms of temperament and character properties, one-way Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was conducted. In terms of temperament properties, PFH group took significantly higher scores than control group in Fatigability and asthenia dimension. In terms of character properties, PFH group scored significantly lower than control group in Purposefulness, Resourcefulness, Self-Directedness and scored significantly higher than control group in Self-forgetfulness and Self-Transcendence. CONCLUSION: Temperament and character features of PFH patients were different from healthy group and it was considered that these features were affected by many factors including genetic, biological, environmental, socio-cultural elements. During the follow-up of PFH cases, psychiatric evaluation is important and interventions, especially psychotherapeutic interventions can increase the chances of success of the dermatological treatments and can have a positive impact on the quality of life and social cohesion of chronic cases.

Relief by electroconvulsive therapy for postsurgical delirium in malignant catatonia.

We report a 46-year-old man who was successfully treated with electroconvulsive therapy for neuroleptic malignant syndrome that developed during the course of delirium after cardiac surgery. We suggest that electroconvulsive therapy be considered as a reasonable treatment alternative for relevant cases.

Quality of sexual life in men with obstructive sleep apnoea.

The study investigated the quality of sexual life of male obstructive sleep apnoea patients. Apnoea and non-apnoea participants were assessed with Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction (GRISS) and Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) before the sleep test. Folicule Stimulating Hormone (FSH), Luteinising Hormone (LH), prolactin, testosterone and oestrogen levels were also evaluated. The apnoea group had a higher BMI and lower LH and testosterone levels than the non-apnoea group. There were no differences between the apnoea, non-apnoea groups and within the apnoea groups (mild, moderate and high apnoea) in terms of sexual satisfaction. Although there was a change in the hormonal levels of obstructive sleep apnoea patients, the sexual life of apnoea patients was not affected at the clinical level.