OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to clarify the role of alcohol use disorders and acute alcohol consumption in suicide attempts by gender. METHODS: Data of 1,152 suicide attempters(487 males and 742 females) who had visited an emergency center was gathered. Suicide attempts were categorized into three groups according to alcohol use: an alcohol use disorder group(AUD), an acute alcohol use group(AAU), and a no-alcohol use group(NAU). The intent and lethality of suicide attempts were evaluated by Suicidal Intents Scale and Risk-Rescue Rating Scale. RESULTS: For Suicidal Intents Scale score, the male AUD group revealed a significantly lower mean score than the male AAU one. However, there were no statistically significant differences for female subjects across subgroups. With regard to the Risk-Rescue Rating Scale score, there were no significant differences for males, while the AUD group showed both the lowest highest rescue scores and lowest risk-rescue scores within female groups. CONCLUSIONS: AUD in females was more likely regarding impulsive suicide attempts with high rescue chances. Consuming alcohol might have different effect on suicide attempts by gender and our study shows that alcohol use is an important risk factor according to gender, particularly with regard to female suicide attempts.
Alcohol Drinking ; Emergencies ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Risk Factors ; Suicide

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to know the frequency of cognitive dysfunction among patients with autoimmune thyroid disorders, and to reveal influencing factors on it, especially to clarify association with autoimmune thyroid antibodies. METHODS: From sixty-five female patients with autoimmune thyroid disorders, demographic data were obtained by structured interview. Their cognitive funtions were measured using the MMSE-K and the MoCA-K tests. Depression was evaluated by the K-HDRS. RESULTS: 1) Among patients with autoimmune thyroid disorders, 7.69% of them were below 24 on the MMSE-K, while 10.77% were below 22 on the MoCA-K. The frequency of cognitive deficit was not significantly different according to having positivity to antimicrosomal antibodies or not. 2) The antimicrosomal antibody-positive patients had significantly higher antithyroglobulin antibody titers, antimicrosomal antibody titers, and TSH concentration, while had significantly lower free T4 levels(p<0.05, respectively). 3) The total scores of the MMSE-K and the MoCA-K had significant correlation with age, marital status, antithyroglobulin antibody titers and K-HDRS(p<0.05, respectively). 4) The regression analysis revealed that variables such as age, education, autoimmune thyroid antibodies, thyroid function and depression did not influence on cognitive function of patients with autoimmune thyroid disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Our results could not support that cognitive function of patients with autoimmune thyroid disorders had correlation with autoimmune thyroid antibodies.
Antibodies ; Cognition ; Cognition Disorders ; Depression ; Education ; Female ; Humans ; Marital Status ; Thyroid Gland*

OBJECTIVES: To investigate changes in, and predictors of, metabolic syndrome(MetS) status over a 5-year period in chronic schizophrenic patients and to identify factors associated with the prevention of or recovery from MetS. METHODS: In total, 107 patients, all of whom provided written informed consent, were followed from 2011 to 2016 at Naju National Hospital for this study. MetS was defined according to the revised National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III guidelines. RESULTS: During follow-up period, 22(20.5%) patients were newly diagnosed to MetS, 14(13.1%) were disappeared, 77(66.4%) were not changed[MetS : 34(31.8%), No MetS 37(34.6%)]. Common significant factors in the two changed groups were triglyceride and waist circumference, not dose and type of antipsychotic medication. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that female gender(odds ratio[OR]=2.846, 95% confidence interval[CI] : 1.020-7.942), attending two or more outpatient visits per month(OR=3.155, 95% CI : 1.188-8.379) and taking antidepressant medication(OR=3.991, 95% CI : 1.048-15.205) were significantly associated with MetS after controlling for other confounding variables. Type and dose of antipsychotic medication were not significantly associated with MetS. CONCLUSIONS: Triglyceride and waist circumference were important manageable indicator of MetS. Adoption of a healthy lifestyle is more important than adjusting the dose or type of antipsychotic medication in the treatment of chronic schizophrenia patients with MetS.
Antipsychotic Agents ; Cholesterol ; Confounding Factors (Epidemiology) ; Education ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Informed Consent ; Jeollanam-do ; Life Style ; Logistic Models ; Outpatients ; Schizophrenia ; Triglycerides ; Waist Circumference

OBJECTIVES: According to the recent Korean National Police Agency report, rape victims were 17.1%, but sexual molestation victims were more than the rape victims by 78.0%. Despite many international reports about the occurrence of severe psychiatric symptoms in sexual molestation victims, there is no domestic research. Therefore in this study, we investigated psychiatric symptoms of sexual molestation victims, and we also compared it with psychiatric symptoms in rape victims. METHODS: 58 women who visited Busan Smile Center within 3months after sexual violence were the study subjects. Questionnaire about sociodemographic and sexual violence related characteristics were retrospectively investigated. Of the psychiatric symptoms, Beck Depression Inventory(BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory(BAI) for severity of depression and anxiety, and Impact of Event Scale-Revised(IES-R) to check the presence of posttraumatic stress disorder(PTSD) symptoms were used. RESULTS: Of 58 sexual violence victims, sexual molestation victims were 36(62.1%) and rape victims were 22(37.9%). In sexual molestation victims, 80.6% had more than moderate severity of depression, 83.3% had more than moderate severity of anxiety, and 94.4% had significant scores at PTSD screening test. Compared with rape victims' psychiatric symptoms(each 95.5%, 95.5%, 95.5%) there were no significant difference. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of sexual molestation victims were also accompanied by depression, anxiety and PTSD symptoms as rape victims. There results suggest that appropriate assessment and early treatment for psychiatric symptom must be made in the early stage of injury in sexual molestation victims.
Adult* ; Anxiety ; Busan ; Depression ; Female* ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Police ; Rape* ; Retrospective Studies ; Sex Offenses ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic

OBJECTIVES: Alzheimer's disease(AD) is characterized by progressive decline of cognitive function and also by various behavioral psychological symptoms of dementia(BPSD) which causes distress to their caregivers. The purpose of this study was to investigate association between each AD patients' behavioral psychological symptoms and their caregivers' burden. METHODS: Participants were 80 AD patients and their caregivers. We used Korean neuropsychiatric inventory (K-NPI) to assess the symptoms of patients and Korean version of Zarit Burden Interview(ZBI) to evaluate caregivers' burden. RESULTS: The results showed ZBI score, which is the index for caregivers' burden, had a statistically significant positive correlation with the frequency of delusion, hallucination, agitation/aggression, depression, anxiety, disinhibition and irritability, the severity of hallucination, agitation/aggression, anxiety, disinhibition, aberrant motor, and sleep, and the global score(frequency×severity) for delusion, hallucination, agitation/aggression, depression, anxiety, disinhibition, aberrant motor, and sleep. There were significant correlations between each scale for cognitive function(i.e. MMSE-KC, CDR, GDS) and ZBI scale. Correlations between each scale for activity of daily living(i.e. Barthel –ADL, K-ADL) and ZBI scale were also significant. CONCLUSIONS: There were a significant correlation between BPSD and caregiver burden. Caregiver burden was also correlated with cognitive function and activity of daily living. Early detection and preventive treatment of these symptoms in BPSD might make improvement of caregivers' quality of life as well as AD patients'.
Alzheimer Disease* ; Anxiety ; Caregivers* ; Cognition ; Delusions ; Depression ; Hallucinations ; Humans ; Quality of Life

OBJECTIVES: Despite the increased popularity of highly caffeinated beverages, there is little research examining psychiatric adverse effects. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among pattern of highly caffeinated beverage intake and depressive symptom, suicidal ideation, suicidal plan, suicidal attempt in Korean adolescents. METHODS: The data was obtained from the 2014 Korean Youth's Risk Behavior Web-based Study by Korea Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. All participants conducted web-based questionnaire survey. Chisquare test and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed to determine the association among highly caffeinated beverage intake pattern, depressive symptom, suicidal ideation, suicidal plan and suicidal attempt adjusting for differences in age, gender, academic achievement, socioeconomic status. RESULTS: A total of 71,638 participants were enrolled in this study. Depressive symptom, suicidal ideation, suicidal plan and suicidal attempt were significantly more frequent in the group with presence of highly caffeinated beverage intake within 1 week than in non-drinker group(p<0.01). Highly caffeinated beverage intake was significantly associated with suicidal attempt(OR=1.99 ; 95% CI, 1.77–2.22). In addition, depressive symptom, suicidal ideation, suicidal plan and suicidal attempt were significantly more common in the group with heavydrinker who exceed recommended daily intake dose of caffeine than in the group with light-drinker(p<0.01). Heavy drinking of caffeinated beverage was significantly associated with suicidal attempt(OR=4.05 ; 95% CI, 3.02–5.43). CONCLUSIONS: We found that highly caffeinated beverage intake was related to more frequent depressive symptom, suicidal ideation, plan, attempt in adolescents. Also, caffeine intake which exceed recommended daily intake dose identified the predictor of suicidal attempt. Our result suggested that clinicians need to be aware of the possible psychiatric adverse effects of highly caffeinated beverage in vulnerable population including young adolescents.
Adolescent* ; Beverages* ; Caffeine ; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) ; Depression* ; Drinking ; Humans ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Recommended Dietary Allowances ; Risk-Taking ; Social Class ; Suicidal Ideation ; Suicide* ; Vulnerable Populations

OBJECTIVES: This study analyzed the differences of body mass index(BMI) in Korean patients with Alzheimer's diseases(AD), Mild Cognitive Impairment(MCI), and healthy controls to verify whether low BMI is associated with cognitive impairment. Furthermore, this study also sought to examine any association between BMI and Mini Mental State Examination-Korean version(MMSE-K), Clinical Dementia Rating(CDR), and Global Deterioration Scale(GDS). METHODS: A total of 257 subjects were included in the study. History taking, mental status examination, physical examination and neurocognitive function test were carried out for the diagnosis of AD and MCI. The subjects' demographic data and presence of diseases were also surveyed. The overall cognitive function and severity of diseases were assessed using MMSE-K, GDS, and CDR. RESULTS: The order of BMI was found to be healthy controls>MCI>AD, with statistically significant differences among the groups. The order of MMSE-K scores was similar, with healthy controls>MCI>AD in statistically significant differences. The healthy controls had the lowest CDR and GDS scores, and AD patients had the highest scores. There was a significant positive correlation between BMI and MMSE scores(r=0.238, p=0.000). BMI was negatively correlated with CDR(r=−0.174, p=0.008) as well as with GDS(r=−0.233, p=0.000). CONCLUSIONS: Measuring BMI of patients with AD or MCI is expected to be meaningful in that BMI could be a clinical indicator of AD. We expect this to be beneficial for the diagnosis, prevention, and therapeutic approach of AD and also expect large-scale, long-term longitudinal studies to follow.
Alzheimer Disease* ; Body Mass Index* ; Cognition Disorders ; Cognition* ; Dementia ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Longitudinal Studies ; Mild Cognitive Impairment* ; Physical Examination

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to evaluate difference of somatic symptoms of anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder and domainal association with suicidal idealization, plan, and attempts. METHODS: A total of 359 adults diagnosed with major depressive disorder and anxiety disorder of last one year participated. Participants interviewed with certain sections of Korean version of Composite International Diagnostic interview of CIDI. Sections of interests includes questionnaires regarding somatic symptoms and suicidal idea, plan and attempts of last one year. RESULTS: Chest pain shows more prevalence in major depressive disorder. Symptoms of Headache and loose stool are more prevalent in anxiety disorder. Difficulty in equilibrium and fainting spells are more common somatic complaints of co-diagnosis states of anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder. Comparing 3 domains of pain symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms and pseudo-neurological symptoms, pain symptom domains, gastrointestinal symptoms domain shows significant statistic difference between diagnosis. Average somatic symptom numbers of each symptom domains increase through suicidal idealization, plan and attempt, accordingly. CONCLUSIONS: Our finding shows some of somatic symptoms are more prevalent at certain diagnosis. Since increasing numbers of somatic complaints of each symptom domains goes with the suicidal idealization to suicidal attempts, proper psychiatric evaluation and consultations are crucial for patients with numerous somatic complaints in non-psychiatric clinical settings.
Adult ; Anxiety Disorders* ; Anxiety* ; Chest Pain ; Depression ; Depressive Disorder, Major* ; Diagnosis ; Headache ; Humans ; Prevalence ; Referral and Consultation ; Suicide ; Syncope

OBJECTIVES: Since the awareness of autism spectrum disorders(ASD) is growing, as a result, it is increasing numbers of infants and toddlers being referred to specialized clinics for a differential diagnosis and the importance of early autism spectrum disorders detection is emphasized. This study is to know the difference between ASD and intellectual disability(ID) from comparison of the demographics, clinical characters and obstetric complications. METHODS: The participants are 816 toddlers who visited the developmental delay clinic(DDC) in National Health Insurance Ilsan hospital. The number of toddlers diagnosed as ASD and ID was 324 and 492. 75 toddlers out of 114 who returned to DDC were diagnosed as ID at the first visit but 7 of them had changed diagnosis to ASD at the second visit. After compared ASD with ID from the first visit, we analyzed characters of toddlers who had the changed diagnosis to ASD at the second visit. RESULTS: As a result, the comparison between ASD and ID at the first visit shows that the boys have higher ratio, lower obstetric complication and lower language assessment score in ASD. The toddlers who had the changed diagnosis at the second visit were all boys and they had more cases of family history of developmental delay and had lower score of receptive language developmental quotient. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that sex, language characteristics and obstetric complication could be useful in the early detection of ASD.
Autism Spectrum Disorder* ; Autistic Disorder* ; Demography ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Infant ; Intellectual Disability* ; Language Development ; National Health Programs

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to investigate the characteristics of language profiles according to whether or not Korean children with autism spectrum disorder(ASD) also have ADHD, and to examine the relationship with executive function. METHODS: Participants in the study were boys with ADHD aged 6 to 11 years who visited the clinic from January 2012 to December 2013. In this study, 25 boys with ASD were included, and completed scales included the Korean version of Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised(K-ADI-R), Korean version of Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule(K-ADOS), Korean ADHD Rating Scale(K-ARS), and Korean-Conners' Parent Rating Scale(K-CPRS). They also completed neuropsychological tests and assessed language profiles. Patients were categorized into two groups(with ADHD and without ADHD). T-test and Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was used for analysis. RESULTS: Statistically, no difference was found in receptive and expressive language ability between the ASD groups with and without ADHD. However, a lower score in Test of Problem solving(TOPS) was observed for ASD with ADHD than for ASD without ADHD, with problem solving and finding cues showing significant differences. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that language profiles in the ASD group without ADHD could be similar to those in the ASD group with ADHD, but comorbid ADHD could lead to more difficulty in linguistic ability for problem solving and could be related with executive function of the frontal lobe.
Autism Spectrum Disorder* ; Autistic Disorder* ; Child* ; Cues ; Executive Function ; Frontal Lobe ; Humans ; Language ; Linguistics ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neuropsychological Tests ; Parents ; Problem Solving ; Weights and Measures