Psychiatric diagnoses in ulcerative colitis: a controlled study

Article Abstract:

Research attempting to link psychiatric disorders with ulcerative colitis (UC), a chronic disease of unknown origin characterized by ulceration and inflammation of the colon and rectum, has provided inconsistent findings. To evaluate the prevalence of psychiatric disturbances in patients with UC, 50 patients with UC (27 males and 23 females with an average age of 36 years), who were consecutively admitted to a gastroenterology clinic, were studied. This group was then compared with 50 subjects (controls), matched for sex, age and marital status, who were hospitalized for urinary tract calcifications (stones). UC patients and controls were administered a test that assessed lifetime history of mood and schizophrenia-related disorders, and also completed a 90-item self-rating scale of psychological symptoms and distress. No significant differences were found between the patient groups in psychiatric disturbances preceding the onset of their medical disorders. However, during hospitalization for their illness, 31 patients with UC and 4 control subjects demonstrated psychiatric disturbance. The most prevalent diagnoses in the UC group were depressive and anxiety disorders. A few UC patients were diagnosed with either obsessive-compulsive disorder or labile personality disorder. The diagnoses in the control group were depression, anxiety disorder, and phobic disorder. Scores on the 90-item scale were significantly higher for UC patients than for controls. These findings suggest that psychiatric problems may be a result, rather than a precipitating factor, of UC. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Risk factors, Ulcerative colitis, Chronically ill, Psychophysiologic disorders, Psychosomatic disorders

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Psychiatric diagnoses as predictors of suicide: a comparison of diagnoses at conscription and in psychiatric care in a cohort of 50 465 young men

Article Abstract:

There is a good deal of research to support the relationship between a diagnosis of psychiatric illness and risk of suicide. However, although a number of risk factors, both demographic and social, have been identified, at the individual level such factors cannot be reliably used to prevent suicide. The reasons for this low specificity include the nature of the population in which a diagnosis that puts a person at risk is made, as well as the method of assessment and the time the diagnosis is made in the course of the illness. In a large study of 50,465 potential draftees into the Swedish army, there were 247 suicides over a 13-year period starting in 1969. Results of psychological screening, as well as inpatient records were evaluated to determine which factors in this large group were most likely to be predictive of suicide. Of the 247 suicides, 71 occurred among those diagnosed during conscription screening, while 108 occurred among individuals later admitted to a psychiatric hospital. One explanation for the discrepancy is that those with more severe disorders are more likely to be admitted to a hospital. Only 50 to 60 percent of those who were diagnosed at conscription screening with psychiatric illness and who later killed themselves were ever admitted to a hospital for psychiatric care. The findings of this study agree with previous research, in which psychiatric illness was predictive of suicide, and that most suicides were attributed to relatively few conditions. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Sweden, Prevention, Suicide prevention

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Violent death and mental illness: a study of a single catchment area over eight years

Article Abstract:

While mental illness has traditionally been associated with suicide, the statistical relation between suicide or violent death and mental illness within a single population has not been well studied. To rectify this, a study was conducted in a psychiatric hospital catchment area in Southampton, England. The study intended to identify all residents who died a violent death (either accidental or of undetermined cause) or suicide, and to see if there was a correlation with violent death and psychiatric treatment the year before. In the eight years between 1974 and 1981, 412 residents qualified for inclusion; of these, there were 245 suicides (59 percent), 41 deaths of undetermined cause (10 percent), and 126 accidental deaths (31 percent). Over half of the 412 victims had undergone some psychiatric treatment in their lifetime, and 37 percent had been admitted to a mental institution. Over a third were psychiatric patients at the time of their death. Overall, males outnumbered females, in terms of violent death and suicide, by a factor of 2 to 1. These results are similar to findings from other studies. Further analysis revealed that deaths from all three categories made up 1.6 percent of all deaths in the area. This indicates that slightly under 1 percent of all mortality in Southampton for this time period could be a consequence of mental illness. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Violent deaths

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