Alcoholic use disorder is a big problem in every country. It is the leading factor causing high disability-adjusted life year (DALYs). The National Institute of Mental Health Epidemiology Cathchment Area found that 37% of people with alcoholic use disorder had comorbid along with psychiatric disorder especially depression. In order to successfully treat patients with alcoholic use disorder, we have to treat their comorbidity along as well.

To examine the prevalence and correlation of depression awareness in patients with alcoholic use disorder.

Inpatients and outpatients who were diagnosed with alcoholic use disorder and alcohol dependence were invited to participate in this research. Subjects who had any history of depressive disorder treatment before were excluded. The awareness of depression was determined by the Illness Perception Questionnaire-Revised, IPQ-R. Depressive disorder was determined by the Thai version of the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9).

Ninety subjects with alcoholic use disorder agreed to join this research. Twenty-nine of the 90 (32.2%) had depression due to the PHQ-9 scale. Twenty-three were aware that they had depression and that was related to alcohol use. Using the logistic regression analysis, there were no significant factors related to this awareness.

There is high prevalence of depression in patients with alcoholic use disorder and most of them have awareness did not receive treatment for depression.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

About 25 000 serious methamphetamine abusers live in the Czech Republic among the total population of 10 million. Dependence on methamphetamine is markedly related to the brain neurotransmitter dopamine, metabolised by catechol-O-methyltransferase enzyme.

The objective of our study was to deepen our knowledge on the genetic background of methamphetamine dependence.

The main aim of the study was to ascertain whether the Val158Met catechol-O-methyltransferase gene polymorphism is associated with methamphetamine dependence in the Czech Republic.

One hundred and twenty-three subjects dependent on methamphetamine (women N = 44), parents of sixty-seven dependent individuals, and four hundred healthy controls (women N = 250) were involved into the study. We performed a population-based as well as family-based genetic association studies.

We did not find any significant association between the Val158Met catechol-O-methyltransferase gene polymorphism and methamphetamine dependence using the population-based or family-based design (P = 0.41-0.66; Chi-Square Test or UNPHASED program, Version 3.1.4, respectively). We found a trend toward a statistically significant difference between the Val allele carriers and Met/Met homozygotes in the frequence of psychotic symptoms induced by methamphetamine (more frequent in Val carriers; P = 0.062; Chi-Square Test).

Further research involving haplotype analysis and other dopamine-related genetic polymorphisms in large populations is needed. More attention should also be paid to possible role of the Val158Met catechol-O-methyltransferase gene polymorphism in individual clinical subtypes of dependence on methamphetamine involving e.g. psychotic features or violence.

Motor, perceptual, and cognitive functions affect driving competence. White matter hyperintensities (WMH) changes on brain MRI are associated structural brain changes along with cognitive and motor performance. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between WMH and driving ability in the elderly.

Participants (n = 540) were drawn from a nationwide, multicenter, hospital-based, longitudinal cohort study. Each participant underwent clinical evaluations, neuropsychological tests, and interview for caregiver including driving capacity, which was categorized as ‘now driving’, and ‘driving cessation (driving before, not now)’. A total 540 participants were divided into three groups (389 mild, 116 moderate, and 35 severe) depending on the degree of WMH. The same evaluations of them were followed after each year. The statistical analyses were performed using χ2 test, an analysis of variance (ANOVA), structured equation model (SEM), and generalized estimating equation (GEE).

In a SEM, greater baseline degree of WMH was directly associated with driving cessation regardless of cognitive and motor dysfunction (β = –0.110, P < 0.001). In GEE models controlling for age, sex, education, cognitive, and motor dysfunction, the more severe changes of the degree of WMH was associated with the faster change from ‘now driving’ state to ‘driving cessation’ state over time in the elderly (β = –0.508, P < 0.001).

In both cross-sectional and longitudinal aspects, the degree of WMH might be one of the predictive factors for driving cessation in the elderly, reflecting both motor and cognitive functions or independently.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Dental anxiety is very prevalent in population and it could be linked with dental problems.

Authors' objective was to analyze basic demographic characteristics of urban non clinical sample in order to find which of them is the most related to dental anxiety and to analyze anxiety and phobic reactions which are related to dental interventions.

We have analyzed 401 individuals from the urban non clinical sample (44,1% women, mean age was 32 years, and 43,4% of parents with most prevalent secondary education). We have used dental Anxiety Scale and sociodemographic questionnaire.

Almost all individuals (99%) has got dental visit and 70 of sample has dental visit in previous year. Most of sample (75,8%) indicate that they do non have any or have minimal dental anxiety, but 10,9% participants indicate that they have high dental anxiety and fear. Most of the sample does not avoid dental visits but 9,9% of sample avoid dental visit because of dental anxiety.

Since 1897, Émile Durkheim noted that suicides occur more often during the economic changes that disrupt the social structure of society.

The objective of this study is to analyze the consequences of last global economic crisis on mortality by suicide in the EU countries in period 2007–2012.

We extracted data on mortality from the WHO database and unemployment trends from the EUROSTAT database. We had used this data to calculate the effect of unemployment on suicide rate, in pre-2004 and post-2004 EU countries.

If the number of suicides from 2007 was maintained in 2008–2012 period, EU 27 countries would have registered with 16,572 fewer suicides. The increase of suicides is based on the increasing number of suicides in men. The small increase in the suicide rate was recorded in Austria, France, Hungary and Slovenia. Luxembourg was the only country where the number of suicides was lower compared to 2007. In 2008, we can notice a slight decrease in the unemployment rate compared to 2007 and an increase in suicide by 3% in both groups of countries, followed by increasing suicide only in the post-2004 EU, where reach 10% in 2010, followed by a slight decrease in the coming years, while the unemployment rate gradually increases to 46% compared with 2007.

In European Union countries, suicides have increased both before and during the crisis, in periods in which unemployment rose. States that joined the EU after 2004 are more vulnerable in times of crisis.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Citicoline is a choline donor involved in the biosynthesis of brain phospholipids and acetylcholine, used for treating neurodegenerative disorders. Several studies have shown its beneficial effects both in degenerative and vascular cognitive decline. Due to its effects on the adrenergic and dopaminergic CNS activity, citicoline can also be used as an adjuvant in depression treatment.

Comparative evaluation of efficacy and safety of a multimodal antidepressive therapy with ceraxone (citicoline) plus one of the antidepressants (venlafaxine, agomelatine, or fluvoxamine) and monotherapy with the same antidepressant for the treatment of depression in the elderly. Two groups of patients were included in the study (21 patients in each group) aged from 60 to 79 years old, comparable to the main clinical characteristics.

First group patients were treated with a single antidepressant, patients of the second group – with the same antidepressant and intravenous infusions of ceraxone: 10 infusions (500 mg in 100 mL isotonic sodium chloride solution) during 2 weeks, followed by transfer to the drug in solution at 3 mL per os two times a day for six weeks.

A multimodal therapy with ceraxone leads to more rapid and significant therapeutic response along with the reduction of adverse events compared to antidepressant monotherapy.

Obtained data allows to recommend a multimodal antidepressive therapy with ceraxone (citicoline) for the treatment of elderly depressive patients to reduce the risk of adverse effects of antidepressants and to shorten hospitalization period.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

The inter-critical phase in bipolar disorder may contain symptoms that do not meet the diagnostic criteria for a thymic episode. According to studies, these symptoms are common and usually associated with impaired psychosocial and family functioning.

Study the subsyndromal symptoms in remitted patients with bipolar disorder, and their functioning repercussions.

We conducted a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study, in the outpatient psychiatry department of the University Hospital in Sfax (Tunisia) among 30 remitted patients with bipolar disorder. We used: the Montgomery And Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), the Angst Hypomania Questionnaire and the FAST test to assess functioning levels.

The average age of our population was 44.37±15.45 years with a sex ratio (M/F) =0.66. Most of them lived in urban areas (60%) and half of them did not go beyond the primary school level. Most did not have a constant job (76.6%). The average number of previous thymic episodes was 2±1.33 times/year. A quarter of the patients (26.6%) had hypomanic symptoms in the intercritical phase and 20% had depressive symptoms. Hypomanic symptoms were correlated with tobacco use (p=0.035). Depressive symptoms weremore frequent in men (p=0.074). Functioninglevel was lower in subjects living in rural areas (p=0.065).

Our study suggests that residual symptoms were frequent with a significant functional impact. As a result, their identification and management are highly essential to improve the overall functioning of patients with bipolar disorder.

To assess the predictive value of the Suicide Intent Scale in patients with a high suicide risk. The secondary aim was to assess if the use of the factors of the Suicide Intent Scale would offer a better predictive value in case detection. Finally a short version of the scale was created after an item analysis.

Eighty-one suicide attempters were assessed with the Beck‘s Suicide Intent Scale (SIS). All patients were followed up for cause of death. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves and tables were created to establish the optimal cut-off values for SIS and SIS factors to predict suicide.

Seven patients committed suicide during a mean follow up of 9.5 years. The major finding was that mean SIS distinguished between suicides and survivors. The positive predictive value was 16.7% and the AUC was 0.74. Only the planning subscale reached the statistical significance. Four items were used to test a short version of SIS in the suicide prediction. The positive predictive value was 19% and the AUC was 0.82.

The Suicide Intent Scale is a valuable tool in clinical suicide risk assessment, a short version of the scale may offer a better predictive value.

Doctors face difficulties when they are sick and have to take the patients’ role, and those barriers can be insurmountable when the problem is an addiction or other mental health disorders. On the other hand, treating sick doctors is more challenging than addressing the same problems in the general population, but not much has been published on the difficulties experienced by doctors treating doctors, specially when this happens in the psychiatric arena. The Physician Health Program (PAIMM) of Barcelona (Spain) is dedicated to the attention of doctors affected by mental disorders and / or addictive behaviours. The program is has also links with psychiatrists all over Spain who take care of patients once discharged.

The goal is to present the results of a survey that describes the experience of psychiatrists who treat sick doctors. The survey itself consists of 25 items, scored on a Likert scale of 5 points and three qualitative questions about their experience as psychiatrists treating patients. The survey were sent to 57 psychiatrists a link to allow for anonymous response through an online system was included in the invitation.

41 responses (74, 5%) have been collected. Psychiatrists believe that treating physicians is more difficult than treating other patients. The difficulties identified are the need of better communication skills and longer interviews. The assessment of readiness to return to work is also very challenging. However, despite the difficulties, the majority of respondents are satisfied with the experience of treating colleagues.

The aim of this study was to evaluate theprevalence of night eating syndrome (NES) and its correlates in schizophrenicoutpatients.

The 14 items of self-reported night eatingquestionnaire (NEQ) was administered to 201 schizophrenic patients in psychiatricoutpatient clinic. We examined demographic and clinical characteristics, bodymass index (BMI), subjective measures of mood, sleep, binge eating, andweight-related quality of life using Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI),Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Binge Eating Scale (BES) and Koreanversion of Obesity-Related Quality of Life Scale (KOQoL), respectively.

The prevalence of night eaters in schizophrenicoutpatients was 10.4% (21 of 201). Comparisons between NES group and non-NES grouprevealed no significant differences in sociodemographic characteristics, clinical status and BMI. Compared to non-NES, patients with NES reportedsignificantly greater depressed mood and sleep disturbance, more binge eatingpattern, and decreased weight-related quality of life. While 'morning anorexia'and 'delayed morning meal' (2 of 5 NES core components in NEQ) were notdiffered between groups, 'nocturnal ingestions', 'evening hyperphagia', and'mood/sleep' were more impaired in NES group.

These findings are the first to describe theprevalence and its correlates of night eaters in schizophrenic outpatients. These results suggest that NES has negative mental health implications, although it was not associated with obesity. Further study to generalize theseresults is required.

The increased prevalence of metabolic syndrome in people with severe mental illness (SMI) is well documented. The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria for metabolic syndrome are three or more of the following: waist circumference ( 80 cm (females), (94 cm (males) OR BMI (30, triglycerides >1.7 mmol/l or on treatment, raised blood pressure (systolic >130 mg Hg or diastolic >85 mm Hg, OR on treatment for hypertension), raised fasting blood glucose (.5.6 mmol/l) OR diagnosed type II diabetes) and reduced HDL cholesterol (< 1.03 mmol/l) OR on treatment.

The IMPACT RCT is a Department of Health funded trial of a health promotion intervention (HPI) delivered by care co-ordinators to people with SMI across South London, Kent and Sussex. The intervention is focussed on improving health by addressing modifiable lifestyle factors such as diet, physical activity, obesity, cigarette smoking, alcohol and substance use.

We investigated the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in a sample of 212 patients for whom we had relevant baseline measures.

Data (weight, BMI, waist circumference, blood pressure, fasting HDL cholesterol, triglycerides and glucose levels) were analysed on 212 patients.

45% of the sample met IDF criteria for metabolic syndrome. Mean BMI was 30.6, glucose 6.4 mmol/L, triglycerides 2.0 mmol/L, HDL 1.2 (mmol/L), waist circumference 105.8 cm, and BP 122/82 mm Hg.

Metabolic syndrome was highly prevalent in this sample, significantly increasing the risk of physical morbidity and potentially lowering life expectancy. There is an unmet need for health promotion interventions in order to lower morbidity and mortality risk in these populations.