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Scientific studies in psychiatry from a methodological point of view could be divided into correlational and experimental. Experimental studies are based on active selection of independent and dependent variables, attributing values of the independent variable to persons under study and measuring values of dependent variables. An example of the experimental study is a comparison of two therapeutic methods. Experiments are feeble to selection, informational and confounding bias.This review comprises experimental papers published in journals: "Psychiatria Polska", "Postepy Psychiatrii i Neurologii", "Farmakoterapia w Psychiatrii i Neurologii", "Rocznik Psychogeriatryczny", "Wiadomości Psychiatryczne" oraz "Alkoholizm i Narkomania" from January 1998 to December 2002.11 experimental publications, 6 randomised, 2 probably randomised and 3 case-control studies were found. The smallest study included 14 persons, the largest 180 persons. The number of experimental groups varied from 2 to 4. 9 studies evaluated features of specific methods of therapy and rehabilitation, among them 6 evaluated efficacy of medications. 2 studies evaluated relations between psychopathological and physiological variables. Experiments were based on groups of patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia (3), alcohol and drug dependence (2), depression (3), insomnia (1), bronchial asthma (1), and hypertension (1).The review showed that experimental studies do not form a main-stream in Polish psychiatric journals.

The survey was aimed at describing the characteristics and therapeutic means offered and the organizational structure of Polish day hospitals for adults as well the as characteristics of patients treated there. It was part of a wider international project carried out within a 5 EC Framework Program and focused on evaluation of costs and effectiveness of day hospital treatment when set against conventional stationary treatment in different European health care systems.Data concerning the year 2000 were gathered using a self-designed questionnaire sent to respondents by post. The response ratio reached 65.2%.Based on the cluster analysis, three main types of day hospitals were recognized: 1. day hospitals focused on rehabilitation of chronic mental disturbances, improvement of social functioning and support, 2. day hospitals being alternative to stationary inpatient treatment, 3. day hospitals intended to continue out-patient treatment and psychotherapy. The number of treatment places, working hours and work-days in a week in polled institutions was constant. Most frequent reasons for not admitting a patient to a day hospital were: intensive suicidal tendencies and acute psychotic decompensation. The most numerous diagnostic groups of patients treated there were schizophrenia (32.2%) and affective disorder (17.4%). Only 18.6% of day hospitals employed a qualified psychotherapist, and 32.6% had a social worker. On the average, one treatment place was offered to 5 patients during a year.The profile of patients admitted to Polish day hospitals for adults is not arbitrarily defined with respect to diagnosis and severity of disorder. However, it is possible to distinguish day hospitals, which have their preferences: more to rehabilitate or more to treat patients. In the last 16 years there was a threefold increase of the number of patients treated in day hospitals due to affective disturbances.

The aim of the study is an analysis of distribution of visual evoked potentials (VEP) latencies in the group of schizophrenic and healthy subjects.A study was carried out on a group of 30 patients (8 males and 22 females) with a DSM-III-R diagnosis of schizophrenia (disorganised schizophrenia--5, paranoid schizophrenia--12, residual schizophrenia--6, and undifferentiated schizophrenia--6). During the study 20 patients were given neuroleptics, 10 patients did not receive treatment. A control consisted of 50 healthy persons (25 males and 25 females). A stimulation of a chessboard pattern reversal (0.5 Hz, 30', 50 cd/m2) was applied. Evoked potentials were measured between top of a head (Cz) and occipital leads O1 and O2.Schizophrenic patients have frequently prolonged N2 latency, and shortened P300 latency. Three groups of patients have been distinguished, based on a pattern of latencies: (1) patients with prolonged latencies of all the waves (half of the patients), (2) patients with prolonged N2 latency, and shortened P300 latency (one fourth of the patients), and (3) patients with latencies similar to control (one fourth of the patients).

Tau protein is a microtubule-associated protein located in neuronal axons, which has been used in various configurations as a diagnostic marker of degenerative changes in the CNS. The aim of our study was to evaluate the use of CSF/ total tau in patients with Alzheimer-type dementia (AD) and vascular dementia (VD) compared to controls, in order to investigate.A total of 102 persons were included in the study: 58 AD patients, 24 VD patients, and 20 non-demented controls. The Alzheimer group was divided into 3 subgroups by clinical stage of the disease. CSF samples were collected by routine lumbar puncture. The level of total tau protein was determined by sensitive sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).CSF/total tau in the AD group was significantly higher than in the VD group (median 385.6 pg/ml vs. 101.2 pg/ml) and the controls (1.37 pg/ml). There were also significant differences among the AD stage groups in CSF total tau: highest in the group with severe dementia, intermediate in the group with moderate dementia, and lowest in the group with mild dementia. Differences in CSF total tau in all groups are not attributable to the patients' age.CSF total tau clearly and simply differentiates AD from VD. CSF total tau in the incipient stage of AD and its increase in parallel with the progression of the disease may also provide a biochemical test to monitor the development of the disease.

The aim of this paper is to present comparison of clinical diagnoses and SCAN (Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry, version 2.1) diagnoses of patients treated in day care and inpatients wards. SCAN was translated at Medical University of Wrocław according to WHO permission. It is a part of multicenter study evaluating effectiveness of treatment in conventional psychiatric hospital and day hospital for acute psychiatric patients. Clinical diagnoses were made using ICD-10 classification system. Till now 56 patients were examined, 15 men and 39 women in age from 21 to 65 years old, median age 45 years old. Among them 31 patients were treated in day care wards, and 25 patients were treated in inpatients wards. During standard medical procedure diagnoses of 25 patients were classified into the block F2, and 19 patients into the block F3 of ICD-10 classification. Schizophrenia were diagnosed in 16 patients of, 19 patients had diagnosis of depressive disorder, and 21--of other mental disorders. Clinical diagnoses were in most of the cases single one; there were only 6 cases with double (comorbid) diagnoses. SCAN diagnoses were multiple, ranged from 1 to 12 (median 3) for one patient. Many concomitant SCAN diagnoses referred to tobacco use, sleep disorders, and somatoform disorders. Cohen's kappa coefficient for the block F2 was 0.78, for schizophrenia--0.62, for the block F3--0.42, and for depression--0.36. Results showed low agreement between clinical and SCAN diagnoses, particularly for mood disorders. The explanations of such discrepancies could be: no strict compliance with rules of ICD-10 by clinicians and avoidance of comorbid diagnoses by clinicians or errors in the SCAN coding algorithms. Further analyses are needed to characterize more precisely the sources of discrepancies.

The paper presents an instrument for estimation of social functioning Groningen Social Disabilities Schedule (GSDS). Analysis of reliability in patients' social disability assessment made by research assistants during the GSDS training in research project EDEN was also described.

Introduction The inflammatory response system is important in the pathophysiology of depressive symptoms that are frequent side effects of interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) treatment. The functional rs1800795 IL-6 promoter SNP [-174 IL-6 (G > C)] has been described, with ‘CC’ genotype associated with lower synthesis of IL-6. Objectives The present study was carried out to determine whether rs1800795 IL-6 polymorphism is associated with severity of depression developed during IFN-alpha and ribavirin treatment. Methods We included 54 Caucasian patients receiving pegylated IFN-alpha and ribavirin treatment for chronic hepatitis C virus infection in the prospective cohort study. Symptoms of depression (Montgomery - Asberg Depression Rating Scale, MADRS, Beck Depression Inventory, BDI) and neuroticism (Eysenck Personality Questionnaire - Revised, EPQ-R/N) were assessed before treatment, just after treatment and 24 weeks after treatment. Results The mean MADRS ratings were higher in subjects with genotype ‘CC’ (p> 0.1). On the other hand, the BDI and EPQR/ N ratings were higher, and more stable in patients with ‘GG’ genotype (p> 0.1). Higher changes and the lowest values 24 weeks after the end of treatment were associated with ‘CC’ genotype (p Conclusions Genotype ‘CC’ of IL-6 rs1800795 polymorphism is associated with bigger differences in BDI and EPQ-R/N ratings during IFN-alpha and ribavirin treatment, and lower ratings after treatment.

This study assessed whether decrease in depressive symptoms after group psychodynamic psychotherapy was due to change in neuroticism score.Patients were treated with group psychodynamic psychotherapy lasting 12 weeks. Every working day patients had 2 therapeutic sessions of 1,5 hour each. Personality trait neuroticism was measured with Eysenck Personality Questionnaire - Revised (EPQ-R), depressive symptoms with Depression Scale of Symptoms Checklist 90 - Revised (SCL-90-R) questionnaire.Of 139 patients included in the study, 110 patients (79.1%) completed it. They were 37 men and 78 women, all with mean age of 34.25 years old. 64 patients were diagnosed with a neurotic disorder (ICD-10/F4), 28 with a personality disorder (F6), 15 with both a personality and a neurotic disorder and 3 with depression (F32) with personality disorder. In total 53 patients were on medication, mainly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.Initial mean neuroticism score was 18.9, and after treatment it was 17.6. This difference is statistically significant as a change (t = 2.88, p = 0.005), but not as an independent mean value (t = 1.9, p = 0.06). Difference in severity of depressive symptoms is far more considerable: before treatment 2.08, after treatment 1.61, and it is statistically significant in comparison as dependent (t = 5.29, p = 0.000001), as well as independent (t = 3.53, p = 0.0005).Looking at proportion of the change, neuroticism score dropped by 7%, whereas depressive symptoms score dropped by 22.6%. We can say that change of depressive symptoms severity is caused mainly by other factors than change in personality trait neuroticism score.

BackgroundThe Goldberg's 30-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30) is used as a screening instrument for psychological distress in the general population. GHQ-30 has been widely used as a unitary measure, but several underlying factors have been identified in previous studies based on factor analyses.AimTo analyze the internal consistency and the factor structure of the Polish version of GHQ-30 in the group of somatic and psychiatric patients’ subpopulations. Differences in factor structure among those two groups might have important implications for how the test is used in those populations.MethodsA total of 1473 patients (807 psychiatric and 666 somatic) were included into the study. A total score was calculated with Likert method. The principal factor analysis with orthogonal varimax normalized rotation was used for the factor extraction.ResultsThe GHQ-30 was found to have high internal consistency. The factorial analysis conducted for the whole group, as well as for psychiatric and somatic patients separately, showed that two factors labeled as followed can be abstracted from the global scale: “depression and anxiety” and “interpersonal functioning and general coping”. These factors jointly account for 54,2% – 62,3% of the variance.ConclusionsResults showed that GHQ-30 may be used both as a unitary measure using full-scale sores and allows to get more detailed information about individual's intra- and interpersonal functioning.