OBJECTIVES The pharmacotherapy of Parkinson's disease (PD) is often challenging as clinicians have to find a favourable balance between the efficacy on motor symptoms and side effect profiles of different dopaminergic medications. We aimed to assess the available evidence on the role of dopamine agonist monotherapy as an alternative to Levodopa in the treatment of motor symptoms of PD, along wi...

Background: About one third of patients with schizophrenia are treatment-resistant. The treatment options for these patients are limited. Objectives: To study the short-term efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy in treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Methods: 30 patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia were included. Patients were assessed at baseline, after 4, and after 6 sessions of ele...

Background: Therapeutic options for patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia are limited. In such cases, a combination of atypical antipsychotic drugs is an often used strategy. We tested the hypothesis that the combination of amisulpride and clozapine would lead to long-term improvement in this patient group. Objective: 15 patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia participated in ...

The use of rating scales in psychiatry increased in the late 1950s with the introduction of antipsychotics and antidepressants. Initially rating scales were used mainly to evaluate the effectiveness of new medication against placebo. As the need increased for good reliability and validity, further rating scales were developed and these were used not only in clinical trials but also to diagnose ...

background: the existing models of information technology in health sciences have full scope of betterment and extension. the high demand pressures, public expectations, advanced platforms all collectively contribute towards hospital environment, which has to be kept in kind while designing of advanced technological ecosystem for information technology. moreover, for the smooth conduct and oper...

OBJECTIVE Monitoring suicidality and risk following initiation of antidepressant treatment is an essential component of clinical care, but few brief, reliable ratings of suicidal ideation and behavior in adults are available. This report evaluates the psychometric properties of a brief self- and clinician-rated measure of factors related to the risk of suicide attempt or completion. METHOD Ad...

The construct of (dis)connection with nature or "nature relatedness" has become increasingly useful in the study of environmental behavior as well as psychological health and well-being. Strong nature relatedness is associated with greater happiness and ecologically sustainable behavior. A number of scales reliably assess individual differences in nature relatedness, but some circumstances may ...

AIM To describe a new inexpensive method (the WHO Colour Scale) for estimating haemoglobin concentration from a drop of blood by means of a colour scale, and to compare its reliability with a standard laboratory method of measuring haemoglobin, and its clinical usefulness in field trials. METHODS The new colour scale method was used to measure haemoglobin concentration in 1213 random venous b...

OBJECTIVE We intended to determine the reliability of a brief life satisfaction scale in a sample of patients with chronic diseases, and to analyze its external validity. METHODS Reliability and factor analysis of the 8-item "Brief Multidimensional Life Satisfaction Scale" (BMLSS) were performed according to standard procedures. The test sample contained 979 individuals (mean age 54+/-11 year...