[Evolution of electro-convulsive therapy activity in France since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic]. / Évolution de l'activité d'électro-convulsivo-thérapie en France depuis le début de la pandémie COVID-19.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has led to major organisational changes in health care settings, especially in psychiatric hospitals. We conducted a national online survey to assess the evolution of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in the different centres practicing this treatment. 65 responses from all over France were analysed. More than 90 % of the centres practising ECT experienced a decrease in their activity. Half of the centres experienced a total cessation of activity and 25 % of the centres experienced a decrease of more than half of their usual activity. Post-pandemic COVID-19 psychiatric care is expected to be difficult. It is essential not to add to this difficulty the complications, often serious, that will be associated with delaying or stopping the practice of ECT. It will also be necessary to remain vigilant with regard to the specific neuropsychiatric consequences that will follow the pandemic.

[Validation of the French version of the self-evaluation of negative symptoms (SNS)]. / Validation de la version française de l'échelle autoévaluation des symptômes négatifs (SNS).

INTRODUCTION: Schizophrenia is a disorder affecting 1% of the population and is associated with severe functional impairment. Negative symptoms are responsible for the majority of this impairment, and many patients with schizophrenia have negative symptoms. However, their evaluation is still a challenge. Thus, standardized assessments are needed to facilitate identification of these symptoms. Many tools have been developed, but most are based on observer ratings. Self-evaluation can provide an additional outcome measure and allow patients to be more engaged in their treatment. The Self-evaluation of Negative Symptoms (SNS) has been developed recently. This is a remarkably understandable instrument for patients with schizophrenia as it allows them to readily complete it without assistance, providing information with respect to their own perception of negative symptoms. The SNS is a self-assessment that permits patients to evaluate themselves in 5 dimensions of negative symptoms. This validation study for the SNS revealed good psychometric properties alongside satisfactory acceptance by patients. AIM: This study was to confirm the validation of the French version of the self-evaluation of negative symptoms (SNS). METHODS: Patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder according to the DSM-IV-R, with a stable regimen of anti-psychotic drugs for the last two months, aged more than 18 years old were eligible for the study. Symptoms were rated using the SNS, the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS), the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenics (CDSS), the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and the Clinical Global Impression and Parkinsonism. Patients were asked to fulfill the SNS twice, 6 weeks apart. RESULTS: Sixty patients were evaluated. Cronbach's coefficient (α=0.8) showed good internal consistency. The SNS significantly correlated with the SANS (r=0.6), the negative sub-score of the BPRS (r=0.6) and the Clinician Global Impression on the severity of negative symptoms (r=0.7). SNS scores did not correlate with level of insight (r=0.08) or Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale positive sub-scores (r=0.2). SNS scores correlated with CDSS scores. However, we did not find correlation between the first item of the CDSS which evaluates depression and the "diminished emotional range" sub-score of SNS. The test-retest of SNS revealed no changes of scores at two evaluations 6 weeks apart. CONCLUSION: The acceptance by patients of the SNS was excellent. The French version of the SNS demonstrated a good internal consistency, good convergent validity and good discriminant validity. The study demonstrates the ability of patients with schizophrenia to accurately report their own experiences. Self-assessments of negative symptoms should be more widely employed in clinical practice because they may allow patients with schizophrenia to develop appropriate coping strategies.

[Association between the violence in the community and the aggressive behaviors of psychotics during their hospitalizations]. / Relation entre la violence intra-hospitalière des patients avec psychoses et la violence dans la communauté.

BACKGROUND: Violence is a common issue in psychiatry and has multiple determiners. The aim of this study is to assess the psychotic inpatients' violence in association with the violence of the neighborhood from which the patients are drawn and to estimate the impact of this environmental factor with regard to other factors. METHOD: A prospective multicenter study was led in nine French cities. Eligible patients were psychotic involuntary patients hospitalized in the cities' psychiatric wards. During their treatments, any kind of aggressive behavior by the patients has been reported by the Overt Aggression Scale (OAS). RESULTS: From June 2010 to May 2011, 95 patients have been included. Seventy-nine per cent of the patients were violent during their hospitalizations. In a bivariate analysis, inpatient violence was significantly associated with different factors: male gender, patient violence history, substance abuse, manic or mixed disorder, the symptoms severity measured by the BPRS, the insight degree and the city crime rate. In a multivariate analysis, the only significant factors associated with the patients' violence were substance abuse, the symptoms severity and the crime rates from the different patients' cities. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that violence within the psychotic patients' neighborhood could represent a risk of violence during their treatments.