Rural birth/upbringing and childhood adversities are associated with psychotic experiences in university students in China.

BACKGROUND: Urbanicity has been reported to associate with an increased risk of psychotic experiences (PEs) in developed countries but less is known about the situation in developing countries. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of birth/upbringing place and other environmental factors on PEs in Chinese university students. METHODS: A computer-assisted cross-sectional survey was conducted on 4620 second-year undergraduates, using a stratified cluster sampling. Birth places and residential mobility before 16 years old were recorded. PEs were measured using the subscales of psychoticism and paranoid ideation in the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R). Six questions extracted from the childhood section of the World Mental Health Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WMH-CIDI) were used to assess childhood trauma. RESULTS: Generalized ordered logit model of multiple regression analysis revealed that participants with rural birth/upbringing (e.g. rural upbringing, on graded factor score of psychoticism and paranoid ideation [GFSPPI], 0 versus 1 & 2, odds ratio [OR] 1.409, 95% CI 1.219-1.628, p < 0.00001; 0 & 1 versus 2, OR 1.584, 95% CI 1.179-2.128, p < 0.00001) and those who reported childhood trauma (e.g. on GFSPPI, 0 versus 1 & 2, OR 1.737, 95% CI 1.498-2.014, p < 0.00001; 0 & 1 versus 2, OR 1.618, 95% CI 1.224-2.140, p < 0.00001) were apt to present more severe PEs. While upbringing places and childhood trauma affected both the presence and the severity of PEs, gender affected the presence or absence of PEs only (e.g. females, on GFSPPI, 0 versus 1 & 2, OR 1.887, 95% CI 1.631-2.183, p < 0.00001; 0 & 1 versus 2, OR 0.927, 95% CI 0.702-1.223, p = 0.593). Besides, the number of risk factors was associated with the severity of PEs in the cumulative odds logistic regression analysis (e.g. 3 risk factors versus 0 risk factor, on GFSPPI, OR 4.126, 95% CI 3.075-5.537, p < 0.00001). CONCLUSIONS: Female, rural birth/upbringing and childhood trauma are risk factors of PEs in university students in China. The discrepancy in the findings between developed countries and China has important implications for urbanicity as a risk factor for PEs.

LGI1 antibody encephalitis - Detailed clinical, laboratory and radiological description of 13 cases in China.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: LGI1 antibody encephalitis is a synaptic autoimmune disorder that was first reported in 2010. To date, LGI1 antibody encephalitis is a widely-recognized disease in neurology and psychiatry. In order to aid clinical recognition of the condition, we analyze the clinical characteristics of 13 Chinese LGI1 antibody encephalitis patients. METHODS: We analyzed clinical features of patients admitted to the West China Hospital who had been diagnosed with LGI1 antibody encephalitis from 2015 to 2017. RESULTS: The median age of the 13 patients was 40.5years. There were 8 female patients, and 1 patient younger than 20years. The initial symptoms in 6 patients (46%) were psychiatric in nature. After treatment, 10 patients (77%) recovered gradually, and 11 patients (85%) showed improvement of psychiatric symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: LGI1 antibody encephalitis should be suspected in patients who developed a rapid change in behavior or psychosis, seizures, or cognition. Timely diagnosis and treatment may yield favorable prognosis.