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Mental health and conspirasism in health care professionals during the spring 2020 COVID-19 lockdown in Greece
- Konstantinos N. Fountoulakis, Maria K. Apostolidou, Marina B. Atsiova, Anna K. Filippidou, Angeliki K. Florou, Dimitra S. Gousiou, Aikaterini R. Katsara, Sofia N. Mantzari, Marina Padouva-Markoulaki, Evangelia I. Papatriantafyllou, Panagiota I. Sacharidi, Aikaterini I. Tonia, Eleni G. Tsagalidou, Vasiliki P. Zymara, Panagiotis E Prezerakos, Sotirios A. Koupidis, Nikolaos K. Fountoulakis, Anastasia Konsta, Eva Maria Tsapakis, Pavlos N. Theodorakis, Elias Mossialos
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- Journal:
- Acta Neuropsychiatrica / Volume 34 / Issue 3 / June 2022
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 10 December 2021, pp. 132-147
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Introduction:
The aim of the study was to investigate mental health and conspiracy theory beliefs concerning COVID-19 among health care professionals (HCPs).
Material and methods:During lockdown, an online questionnaire gathered data from 507 HCPs (432 females aged 33.86 ± 8.63 and 75 males aged 39.09 ± 9.54).
Statistical analysis:A post-stratification method to transform the study sample was used; descriptive statistics were calculated.
Results:Anxiety and probable depression were increased 1.5–2-fold and were higher in females and nurses. Previous history of depression was the main risk factor. The rates of believing in conspiracy theories concerning the COVID-19 were alarming with the majority of individuals (especially females) following some theory to at least some extend.
Conclusions:The current paper reports high rates of depression, distress and suicidal thoughts in the HCPs during the lockdown, with a high prevalence of beliefs in conspiracy theories. Female gender and previous history of depression acted as risk factors, while the belief in conspiracy theories might act as a protective factor. The results should be considered with caution due to the nature of the data (online survey on a self-selected but stratified sample).
Gender, age at onset, and duration of being ill as predictors for the long-term course and outcome of schizophrenia: an international multicenter study
- Konstantinos N. Fountoulakis, Elena Dragioti, Antonis T. Theofilidis, Tobias Wiklund, Xenofon Atmatzidis, Ioannis Nimatoudis, Erik Thys, Martien Wampers, Luchezar Hranov, Trayana Hristova, Daniil Aptalidis, Roumen Milev, Felicia Iftene, Filip Spaniel, Pavel Knytl, Petra Furstova, Tiina From, Henry Karlsson, Maija Walta, Raimo K. R. Salokangas, Jean-Michel Azorin, Justine Bouniard, Julie Montant, Georg Juckel, Ida S. Haussleiter, Athanasios Douzenis, Ioannis Michopoulos, Panagiotis Ferentinos, Nikolaos Smyrnis, Leonidas Mantonakis, Zsófia Nemes, Xenia Gonda, Dora Vajda, Anita Juhasz, Amresh Shrivastava, John Waddington, Maurizio Pompili, Anna Comparelli, Valentina Corigliano, Elmars Rancans, Alvydas Navickas, Jan Hilbig, Laurynas Bukelskis, Lidija I. Stevovic, Sanja Vodopic, Oluyomi Esan, Oluremi Oladele, Christopher Osunbote, Janusz K. Rybakowski, Pawel Wojciak, Klaudia Domowicz, Maria L. Figueira, Ludgero Linhares, Joana Crawford, Anca-Livia Panfil, Daria Smirnova, Olga Izmailova, Dusica Lecic-Tosevski, Henk Temmingh, Fleur Howells, Julio Bobes, Maria P. Garcia-Portilla, Leticia García-Alvarez, Gamze Erzin, Hasan Karadağ, Avinash De Sousa, Anuja Bendre, Cyril Hoschl, Cristina Bredicean, Ion Papava, Olivera Vukovic, Bojana Pejuskovic, Vincent Russell, Loukas Athanasiadis, Anastasia Konsta, Nikolaos K. Fountoulakis, Dan Stein, Michael Berk, Olivia Dean, Rajiv Tandon, Siegfried Kasper, Marc De Hert
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- Journal:
- CNS Spectrums / Volume 27 / Issue 6 / December 2022
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 09 August 2021, pp. 716-723
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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.
MethodsTwenty-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.
ResultsThere 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.
DiscussionOur 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.
Modeling psychological function in patients with schizophrenia with the PANSS: an international multi-center study
- Konstantinos N. Fountoulakis, Elena Dragioti, Antonis T. Theofilidis, Tobias Wiklund, Xenofon Atmatzidis, Ioannis Nimatoudis, Erik Thys, Martien Wampers, Luchezar Hranov, Trayana Hristova, Daniil Aptalidis, Roumen Milev, Felicia Iftene, Filip Spaniel, Pavel Knytl, Petra Furstova, Tiina From, Henry Karlsson, Maija Walta, Raimo K.R. Salokangas, Jean-Michel Azorin, Justine Bouniard, Julie Montant, Georg Juckel, Ida S. Haussleiter, Athanasios Douzenis, Ioannis Michopoulos, Panagiotis Ferentinos, Nikolaos Smyrnis, Leonidas Mantonakis, Zsófia Nemes, Xenia Gonda, Dora Vajda, Anita Juhasz, Amresh Shrivastava, John Waddington, Maurizio Pompili, Anna Comparelli, Valentina Corigliano, Elmars Rancans, Alvydas Navickas, Jan Hilbig, Laurynas Bukelskis, Lidija I. Stevovic, Sanja Vodopic, Oluyomi Esan, Oluremi Oladele, Christopher Osunbote, Janusz K. Rybakowski, Pawel Wojciak, Klaudia Domowicz, Maria L. Figueira, Ludgero Linhares, Joana Crawford, Anca-Livia Panfil, Daria Smirnova, Olga Izmailova, Dusica Lecic-Tosevski, Henk Temmingh, Fleur Howells, Julio Bobes, Maria P. Garcia-Portilla, Leticia García-Alvarez, Gamze Erzin, Hasan Karadağ, Avinash De Sousa, Anuja Bendre, Cyril Hoschl, Cristina Bredicean, Ion Papava, Olivera Vukovic, Bojana Pejuskovic, Vincent Russell, Loukas Athanasiadis, Anastasia Konsta, Dan Stein, Michael Berk, Olivia Dean, Rajiv Tandon, Siegfried Kasper, Marc De Hert
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- Journal:
- CNS Spectrums / Volume 26 / Issue 3 / June 2021
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 15 April 2020, pp. 290-298
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Background
The aim of the current study was to explore the changing interrelationships among clinical variables through the stages of schizophrenia in order to assemble a comprehensive and meaningful disease model.
MethodsTwenty-nine centers from 25 countries participated and included 2358 patients aged 37.21 ± 11.87 years with schizophrenia. Multiple linear regression analysis and visual inspection of plots were performed.
ResultsThe results suggest that with progression stages, there are changing correlations among Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale factors at each stage and each factor correlates with all the others in that particular stage, in which this factor is dominant. This internal structure further supports the validity of an already proposed four stages model, with positive symptoms dominating the first stage, excitement/hostility the second, depression the third, and neurocognitive decline the last stage.
ConclusionsThe current study investigated the mental organization and functioning in patients with schizophrenia in relation to different stages of illness progression. It revealed two distinct “cores” of schizophrenia, the “Positive” and the “Negative,” while neurocognitive decline escalates during the later stages. Future research should focus on the therapeutic implications of such a model. Stopping the progress of the illness could demand to stop the succession of stages. This could be achieved not only by both halting the triggering effect of positive and negative symptoms, but also by stopping the sensitization effect on the neural pathways responsible for the development of hostility, excitement, anxiety, and depression as well as the deleterious effect on neural networks responsible for neurocognition.
Development and validation of the Greek Severe Impairment Battery (SIB)
- Anastasia Konsta, Eleni Bonti, Eleni Parlapani, Loukas Athanasiadis, Petros Kechayas, Maria Karagiannidou, Konstantinos Fokas
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- Journal:
- International Psychogeriatrics / Volume 26 / Issue 4 / April 2014
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 20 January 2014, pp. 591-596
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Background:
Most neuropsychological batteries, especially those most often used, are unsuitable for the assessment of patients with severe dementia. The Severe Impairment Battery (SIB) was developed for the evaluation of preserved cognitive functions in these patients. The aim of this study was to formulate a Greek version of the SIB and to conduct a first assessment of its use of patients with mild, moderate, or severe Alzheimer's disease (AD), compared to the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).
Methods:A convenience sample of 42 dementia patients according to DSM-IV-TR criteria and 23 healthy participants was selected. Patients were assessed twice using a Greek translation of the SIB and the Greek version of MMSE. Patients were divided into three severity groups based on grouped by Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) score and the SIB and MMSE scores were compared.
Results:The validity of the SIB was confirmed by evaluating the correlation coefficients between the SIB and Greek-MMSE, grouped by CDR, which were found to be significant. Cronbach's α for the total SIB score and each subscale score showed high significance, and the item-total correlation for each subscale was also acceptable. The test-retest correlation for the total SIB score and subscale scores were significant. The total SIB score and subscale scores were examined according to CDR.
Conclusion:The Greek SIB is reliable and valid in differentiating patients with moderate or severe dementia, whereas MMSE loses sensitivity due to a floor and ceiling effect.