Utilization of professional psychological care in a large German sample of cancer patients
Objective Although one-third of cancer patients are perceived to have a need for psychological support based on the percentage of mental disorders, little is known about the actual utilization of psychological care in cancer. We aimed to assess cancer patients' reported use of psychological care and its correlates in a large, representative sample. Methods In a multicenter, cross-sectional study in Germany, 4020 cancer patients (mean age 58 years, 51% women) were evaluated. We obtained self-reports of use of psychotherapy and psychological counseling. We measured distress with the Distress Thermometer, symptoms of depression with the Patient Health Questionnaire, anxiety with the Generalize…
The need for a behavioural science focus in research on mental health and mental disorders
Psychology as a science offers an enormous diversity of theories, principles, and methodological approaches to understand mental health, abnormal functions and behaviours and mental disorders. A selected overview of the scope, current topics as well as strength and gaps in Psychological Science may help to depict the advances needed to inform future research agendas specifically on mental health and mental disorders. From an integrative psychological perspective, most maladaptive health behaviours and mental disorders can be conceptualized as the result of developmental dysfunctions of psychological functions and processes as well as neurobiological and genetic processes that interact with …
People with Alcohol Use Disorders in Specialized Care in Eight Different European Countries
Aim: To provide a description of patients receiving alcohol treatment in eight different European countries, including the level of comorbidities and functional limitations. Methods: Drinking behaviours, DSM-IV alcohol use disorder (AUD), mental and somatic comorbidities, disability and health services utilization of 1767 patients from various specialized treatment settings were assessed as representative for regions of eight European countries. Severity of alcohol dependence (AD) in terms of drinking level was compared with a large representative US sample. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 2015, 1–9 doi: 10.1093/alcalc/agv009 Article © The Author 2015. Medical Council on Alcohol and Oxford Universi…
Obesity and Abdominal Fat Markers in Patients with a History of Stroke and Transient Ischemic Attacks.
Background Abdominal obesity is a well-recognized cardiovascular risk factor. Conflicting data concerning its significance with respect to stroke have been discussed in recent years. The objective of this study was to analyze the association between anthropometric parameters and the risk of stroke and transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) in German primary care. Methods Patient recruitment in this large-scale epidemiological study was performed in 3188 representative primary care offices in Germany. Among 6980 study participants, 1745 patients with a history of stroke or TIA were identified and matched for age and gender with 5235 regional controls. Associations between standard anthropometric …
Including gaming disorder in the ICD-11: The need to do so from a clinical and public health perspective: Commentary on: A weak scientific basis for gaming disorder: Let us err on the side of caution (van Rooij et al., 2018)
The proposed introduction of gaming disorder (GD) in the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) has led to a lively debate over the past year. Besides the broad support for the decision in the academic press, a recent publication by van Rooij et al. (2018) repeated the criticism raised against the inclusion of GD in ICD-11 by Aarseth et al. (2017). We argue that this group of researchers fails to recognize the clinical and public health considerations, which support the WHO perspective. It is important to recognize a range of biases that may influence this debate; in particular, the gaming industry may wish to …
Metabolic mediators of the effects of body-mass index, overweight, and obesity on coronary heart disease and stroke: a pooled analysis of 97 prospective cohorts with 1.8 million participants.
Summary Background Body-mass index (BMI) and diabetes have increased worldwide, whereas global average blood pressure and cholesterol have decreased or remained unchanged in the past three decades. We quantified how much of the effects of BMI on coronary heart disease and stroke are mediated through blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose, and how much is independent of these factors. Methods We pooled data from 97 prospective cohort studies that collectively enrolled 1·8 million participants between 1948 and 2005, and that included 57 161 coronary heart disease and 31 093 stroke events. For each cohort we excluded participants who were younger than 18 years, had a BMI of lower than 20 kg/…
Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in an onset cohort of adults with type 1 diabetes
Previous studies indicate a high prevalence of psychiatric disorders in adults with type 1 diabetes mellitus. The aim of our study was to determine if newly diagnosed adults with type 1 diabetes already have an elevated rate of psychiatric disorders at the beginning of their physical illness.The authors consecutively recruited 313 newly diagnosed, adult inpatients with type 1 diabetes (age 17-40 years) from 12 hospitals. A national, representative population sample of 2046 persons of a similar age range served as the reference group. Psychiatric disorders were measured in both groups using structured interviews that provided diagnoses according to DSM-IV.There was a point prevalence of 12.5…
GLRB allelic variation associated with agoraphobic cognitions, increased startle response and fear network activation: a potential neurogenetic pathway to panic disorder.
Contains fulltext : 177350.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) The molecular genetics of panic disorder (PD) with and without agoraphobia (AG) are still largely unknown and progress is hampered by small sample sizes. We therefore performed a genome-wide association study with a dimensional, PD/AG-related anxiety phenotype based on the Agoraphobia Cognition Questionnaire (ACQ) in a sample of 1370 healthy German volunteers of the CRC TRR58 MEGA study wave 1. A genome-wide significant association was found between ACQ and single non-coding nucleotide variants of the GLRB gene (rs78726293, P=3.3 x 10-8; rs191260602, P=3.9 x 10-8). We followed up on this finding in a larger dimensional AC…