Browsing by Author "Lecic-Tosevski, Dusica (6602315043)"

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Background: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are complex psychiatric disorders, with gene environment interaction being in the basis of their etiology. The association of perinatal complications and ASD is well established. Recent findings suggested that oxidative stress and polymorphism in genes encoding antioxidant enzymes might be involved in the development of ASD. Glutathione transferases (GSTs) have an important role in the antioxidant defense system. We aimed to establish whether the predictive effects of prenatal and perinatal complications (as possible oxidative stress inducers) on ASD risk are dependent on GST polymorphisms. Methods: The study included 113 ASD cases and 114 age-and sex group-matched healthy controls. All participants were genotyped for GSTA1, GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTP1 polymorphisms. The questionnaire regarding prenatal and perinatal risk factors and complications was administered for all the subjects in the study. Results: The evaluated perinatal complications as a group significantly increased the risk of ASD [odds ratio (OR) = 9.415; p = 0.000], as well as individual perinatal complications, such as prematurity (OR = 11.42; p = 0.001), neonatal jaundice (OR = 8.774; p = 0.000), respiratory distress syndrome (OR = 4.835; p = 0.047), and the use of any medication during pregnancy (OR = 2.413; p = 0.03). In logistic regression model, adding GST genotypes did not modify the significant effects found for prematurity and neonatal jaundice as risk factors in ASD. However, there was a significant interaction of GST genotype with medication use during pregnancy and the use of tocolytics during pregnancy, which was predictive of ASD risk only in carriers of GSTM1-null, as opposed to carriers of GSTM1-active genotype. Conclusion: Specific perinatal complications may be significant risk factors for ASD. GSTM1 genotype may serve as a moderator of the effect of some prenatal factors on the risk of ASD such as using medication during pregnancy. It may be speculated that different oxidative stress-related genetic and environmental factors could lead to development of ASD. Apart from etiological mechanisms, possible therapeutic implications in ASD are also discussed. © 2019 Mandic-Maravic, Mitkovic-Voncina, Pljesa-Ercegovac, Savic-Radojevic, Djordjevic, Pekmezovic, Grujicic, Ercegovac, Simic, Lecic-Tosevski and Pejovic-Milovancevic.

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Objective: Major depressive episode (MDE) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been shown to be the most common mental disorders following traumatic war experiences and have been found to frequently co-occur. This study, designed as a randomized cross-sectional interview survey, aimed to identify whether the co-occurence of MDE and PTSD following exposure to war-related experiences is associated with different demographics, exposure to previous traumatic events, and clinical characteristics than either condition alone. Method: After a random-walk technique was used to randomly select participants, face-to-face interviews were conducted among war-affected community samples in 5 Balkan countries (N = 3,313) in the years 2006 and 2007. The mean age of participants was 42.3 years, and all participants had experienced potentially traumatic events during war in the countries of the former Yugoslavia. Current prevalence rates of MDE and PTSD and suicide risk were assessed using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Levels of general psychological distress, posttraumatic stress, and quality of life were assessed with self-reports. Results: 30.5% of the sample met DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for either MDE or PTSD, and 9.1% had both disorders. Participants with concomitant MDE and PTSD reported significantly higher numbers of prewar and postwar traumatic events than participants with PTSD only and higher numbers of war-related events than those with MDE only (all P values < .001). Participants with both MDE and PTSD had significantly higher levels of general psychological and posttraumatic stress symptoms, a higher suicide risk, and lower levels of quality of life than participants with either condition alone (all P values < .001). Conclusions: Concomitant MDE and PTSD are associated with the experience of different traumatic events and are characterized by more general psychological distress than either condition alone. The assessment of concomitant MDE and PTSD can facilitate better identification of individuals with severe psychopathology and poor quality of life. People with co-occurrence of MDE and PTSD may require specific health care programs following war. © Copyright 2013 Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc.

Community mental health care was developed in Serbia in 1982 at the Belgrade Institute of mental health. Treatment was provided through the primary health care system, with each health centre having its own mental health care team. However, in the process of psychiatric reform and deinstitutionalization, dedicated community centres had to be established, in accordance with the National Strategy for the Development of Mental Health Care. The first community-based mental health centre opened in the southern area of Serbia in 2005 and subsequently, other centres were established. The centres are organized independently of psychiatric hospitals and are located in local, self-government units, providing psychosocial treatment and the continuation of mental health care. In relation to the ongoing reform of psychiatry in the country, there are positive and negative issues. There are 41.41 beds per 100,000 of the population in psychiatric hospitals and 18.33 beds per 100,000 of the population in the psychiatric departments of general hospitals. Day hospitals, established throughout the country, provide patients with good quality care. Mental health care professionals are educated to a high standard and integrative, person-centred treatment is applied in most services. However, the level of stigma directed towards those with mental illness is still high and constitutes a barrier to treatment. Well-developed screening and early detection programmes to identify persons requiring mental health care are lacking, as are the records of patients with mental disorders. The future goal is to further reduce the number of beds in psychiatric hospitals, establish new community mental health care services throughout the country and ensure the prevention of mental disorders, as well as mental health promotion. © 2021, Eco-Vector LLC. All rights reserved.

Community mental health care was developed in Serbia in 1982 at the Belgrade Institute of mental health. Treatment was provided through the primary health care system, with each health centre having its own mental health care team. However, in the process of psychiatric reform and deinstitutionalization, dedicated community centres had to be established, in accordance with the National Strategy for the Development of Mental Health Care. The first community-based mental health centre opened in the southern area of Serbia in 2005 and subsequently, other centres were established. The centres are organized independently of psychiatric hospitals and are located in local, self-government units, providing psychosocial treatment and the continuation of mental health care. In relation to the ongoing reform of psychiatry in the country, there are positive and negative issues. There are 41.41 beds per 100,000 of the population in psychiatric hospitals and 18.33 beds per 100,000 of the population in the psychiatric departments of general hospitals. Day hospitals, established throughout the country, provide patients with good quality care. Mental health care professionals are educated to a high standard and integrative, person-centred treatment is applied in most services. However, the level of stigma directed towards those with mental illness is still high and constitutes a barrier to treatment. Well-developed screening and early detection programmes to identify persons requiring mental health care are lacking, as are the records of patients with mental disorders. The future goal is to further reduce the number of beds in psychiatric hospitals, establish new community mental health care services throughout the country and ensure the prevention of mental disorders, as well as mental health promotion. © 2021, Eco-Vector LLC. All rights reserved.

Background: A reliable and valid global staging scale has been lacking within dementia care. Objective: To develop an easy-to-use multi-dimensional clinical staging schedule for dementia. Methods: The schedule was developed through: i) Two series of focus groups (40 and 48 participants, respectively) in Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and UK with a multi-disciplinary group of professionals working within dementia care, to assess the need for a dementia-staging tool and to obtain suggestions on its design and characteristics; ii) A pilot-study over three rounds to test inter-rater reliability of the newly developed schedule using written case histories, with five members of the project's steering committee and 27 of their colleagues from Netherlands, France, and Spain as participants; and iii) A field-study to test the schedule's inter-rater reliability in clinical practice in France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Turkey, South Korea, Romania, and Serbia, which included 209 dementia patients and 217 of their caregivers as participants. Results: Focus group participants indicated a clear need for a culture-fair international dementia staging scale and reached consensus on face validity and content validity. Accordingly, the schedule has been composed of seven dimensions including behavioral, cognitive, physical, functional, social, and care aspects. Overall, the schedule showed adequate face validity, content validity, and inter-rater reliability; in the nine field-sites, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs; absolute agreement) for individual dimensions ranged between 0.38 and 1.0, with 84.4% of ICCs over 0.7. ICCs for total sum scores ranged between 0.89 and 0.99 in the nine field-sites. Conclusion: The IDEAL schedule looks promising as tool for the clinical and social management of people with dementia globally, though further reliability and validity testing is needed. © 2015 - IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved.

Background: A reliable and valid global staging scale has been lacking within dementia care. Objective: To develop an easy-to-use multi-dimensional clinical staging schedule for dementia. Methods: The schedule was developed through: i) Two series of focus groups (40 and 48 participants, respectively) in Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and UK with a multi-disciplinary group of professionals working within dementia care, to assess the need for a dementia-staging tool and to obtain suggestions on its design and characteristics; ii) A pilot-study over three rounds to test inter-rater reliability of the newly developed schedule using written case histories, with five members of the project's steering committee and 27 of their colleagues from Netherlands, France, and Spain as participants; and iii) A field-study to test the schedule's inter-rater reliability in clinical practice in France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Turkey, South Korea, Romania, and Serbia, which included 209 dementia patients and 217 of their caregivers as participants. Results: Focus group participants indicated a clear need for a culture-fair international dementia staging scale and reached consensus on face validity and content validity. Accordingly, the schedule has been composed of seven dimensions including behavioral, cognitive, physical, functional, social, and care aspects. Overall, the schedule showed adequate face validity, content validity, and inter-rater reliability; in the nine field-sites, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs; absolute agreement) for individual dimensions ranged between 0.38 and 1.0, with 84.4% of ICCs over 0.7. ICCs for total sum scores ranged between 0.89 and 0.99 in the nine field-sites. Conclusion: The IDEAL schedule looks promising as tool for the clinical and social management of people with dementia globally, though further reliability and validity testing is needed. © 2015 - IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved.

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Purpose of review: After the initial enthusiasm, the study of personality disorder seems to be at a crossroad, without clear direction. This is mainly due to overlapping categorical diagnostic criteria of personality disorders. Study samples based on these criteria are inadequate and their results questionable. Recent findings: The literature is unanimously advocating a dimensional concept of personality disorders. Four dimensions are consistently reported to underlie personality disorder symptoms. We put forward an argument that personality disorders are disorders of adaptation, not of personality per se, as extreme personality traits are not ipso facto dysfunctional. Available methods to assess maladaptation are reviewed. Summary: The diagnosis 'personality disorder' should be replaced by the diagnosis 'adaptation disorders'. This reflects the real nature of the disorder more accurately, and is likely to reduce the stigmatizing component of the personality disorder diagnosis as it places emphasis on positive efforts to improve adaptation. The suggested revisions of the personality disorder diagnosis and dimensional approach to these disorders are likely to advance treatment and research - we discuss these aspects in some detail. © 2008 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Background: Prevalence rates of mental disorders are frequently increased in long-settled war refugees. However, substantial variation in prevalence rates across studies and countries remain unexplained. Aims: To test whether the same sociodemographic characteristics, war experiences and post-migration stressors are associated with mental disorders in similar refugee groups resettled in different countries. Method: Mental disorders were assessed in war-affected refugees from the former Yugoslavia in Germany, Italy and the UK. Sociodemographic, war-related and post-migration characteristics were tested for their association with different disorders. Results: A total of 854 war refugees were assessed (≥255 per country). Prevalence rates of mental disorders varied substantially across countries. A lower level of education, more traumatic experiences during and after the war, more migration-related stress, a temporary residence permit and not feeling accepted were independently associated with higher rates of mood and anxiety disorders. Mood disorders were also associated with older age, female gender and being unemployed, and anxiety disorders with the absence of combat experience. Higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were associated with older age, a lower level of education, more traumatic experiences during and after the war, absence of combat experience, more migration-related stress, and a temporary residence permit. Only younger age, male gender and not living with a partner were associated with substance use disorders. The associations did not differ significantly across the countries. War-related factors explained more variance in rates of PTSD, and post-migration factors in the rates of mood, anxiety and substance use disorder. Conclusions: Sociodemographic characteristics, war experiences and postmigration stressors are independently associated with mental disorders in long-settled war refugees. The risk factors vary for different disorders, but are consistent across host countries for the same disorders.

Background. The aim of the current study was to explore the effect of gender, age at onset, and duration on the long-term course of schizophrenia. Methods. Twenty-nine centers from 25 countries representing all continents participated in the study that included 2358 patients aged 37.21 ± 11.87 years with a DSM-IV or DSM-5 diagnosis of schizophrenia; the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale as well as relevant clinicodemographic data were gathered. Analysis of variance and analysis of covariance were used, and the methodology corrected for the presence of potentially confounding effects. Results. There was a 3-year later age at onset for females (P < .001) and lower rates of negative symptoms (P < .01) and higher depression/ anxiety measures (P < .05) at some stages. The age at onset manifested a distribution with a single peak for both genders with a tendency of patients with younger onset having slower advancement through illness stages (P = .001). No significant effects were found concerning duration of illness. Discussion. Our results confirmed a later onset and a possibly more benign course and outcome in females. Age at onset manifested a single peak in both genders, and surprisingly, earlier onset was related to a slower progression of the illness. No effect of duration has been detected. These results are partially in accord with the literature, but they also differ as a consequence of the different starting point of our methodology (a novel staging model), which in our opinion precluded the impact of confounding effects. Future research should focus on the therapeutic policy and implications of these results in more representative samples. © Cambridge University Press 2021.

The authors think that all personality disorders function at the borderline level and that borderline phenomena are markers of severity and instability of different personality disorders. The borderline personality functioning is a dynamic dimension which can be transitory (borderline decompensation) and can be triggered by depression. Some borderline patients may fail to progress in individual psychotherapy but respond well to group treatment alone or in conjunction with individual treatment. It is best to mix different types of personality adaptations at different levels of functioning, like in real life situations. The authors also think that the supportive and interpretative treatments should be combined for the most persons with personality disorders in the group setting. © 2008 Copyright by 'Pinel' Verlag, Berlin.

Purpose of Review: This review aims to provide a brief description of the complex etiology of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), with special emphasis on the recent findings of impaired redox control in ASD, and to suggest a possible model of oxidative stress-specific gene-environment interaction in this group of disorders. Recent Findings: Recent findings point out to the significance of environmental, prenatal, and perinatal factors in ASD but, at the same time, are in favor of the potentially significant oxidative stress-specific gene-environment interaction in ASD. Available evidence suggests an association between both the identified environmental factors and genetic susceptibility related to the increased risk of ASD and the oxidative stress pathway. Summary: There might be a potentially significant specific gene-environment interaction in ASD, which is associated with oxidative stress. Revealing novel susceptibility genes (including those encoding for antioxidant enzymes), or environmental factors that might increase susceptibility to ASD in carriers of a specific genotype, might enable the stratification of individuals more prone to developing ASD and, eventually, the possibility of applying preventive therapeutic actions. © 2017, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Methods: A systematic analysis was performed of the medical specialization academic programs of 20 different countries to establish which medical specialties take into account mental health issues in the specialty curricular design and which mental health content these programs address. The criteria that were explored in the educational programs include: 1) name of the medical specialties that take into account mental health content in curriculum design, 2) name of the mental health issues addressed by these programs. After independent review and data extraction, paired investigators compared the findings and reached consensus on all discrepancies before the final presentation of the data. Descriptive statistics evaluated the frequency of the data presented. Results: Internal medicine, family medicine, neurology, pediatrics and geriatrics were the specialties that included mental health topics in their programs. In four countries: Bangladesh, Serbia, the Netherlands and France, 50%of all graduate specialty training programs include mental health content. In ten countries: Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Belgium, India, Russia, Canada, Israel and Spain, between 20% and 49% of all graduate specialty training programs include mental health content. In six countries - Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Kenya, and the United States-less than 20% of all graduate specialty training programs include mental health content. Discussion: The proposal that we have made in this article should be taken into account by decision-makers, in order to complement the different postgraduate training programs with mental health issues that are frequently present with other physical symptoms. It is not our intention that the different specialists know how to treat psychiatric comorbidities, but rather pay attention to their existence and implications in the diagnosis, evolution and prognosis of many other diseases. The current fragmentation of medicine into ever finer specialties makes the management of comorbidity ever more difficult: a reorientation of post- graduate training might improve the situation. © The Author(s) 2021.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a multicausal phenomenon and a final end point of the combination of a number of potential causes. Our study aimed to examine potential risk and recovery factors of PTSD in general adult population at 1-year follow-up period. The sample consisted of 640 subjects in the initial phase, chosen by random walk technique in five regions of the country, and 100 in the follow-up. The assessment has been carried out by the following instruments: Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview, Life Stressor Checklist-Revised, Brief Symptom Inventory, and Manchester Short Assessment of Quality of Life Scale. Older age, low education, and lower monthly income are potential risk factors for current PTSD, as well as decreased quality of life, psychiatric comorbidity, and higher personal distress. Urban population, higher quality of life, smaller number of stressors, and lower personal distress contributed to recovery of PTSD. It is essential to know the risk and resilience factors that contribute to the development and recovery of PTSD, which is important for prevention and treatment of this disorder. © Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.