Relapse prevention is a primary long-term clinical goal in treatment of psychotic disorders. Pharmacotherapy by itself is not sufficient, because compliance of patients in remission is usually low and there are more factors contributing to relapse, especially stress of patients resulting from emotionally demanding situations in the family. PREDUKA (PREventive EDUcational programme for relapse prevention) is a six-hour professionally-led group programme for patients with psychotic disorders in ambulant therapy and for their relatives. In a field questionnaire survey we mapped 1) theoretical knowledge of participants, 2) usage of practical advice obtained from PREDUKA and 3) general benefit of programme. Participants from years 2007 - 2009 were included. The sample consisted of 14 patients and 22 relatives, 27 women and 11 men. The average age of patients was 28,6 years, that of relatives 44,4 years. High return of questionnaires from patients confirms their goodwill to cooperate. Knowledge of participants about psychosis and their therapy is very good, compliance of patients from our sample is high. Participants usually follow advice obtained from PREDUKA. Common is the ignorance of important phone numbers (crisis centre, attending psychiatrist), so we suggest to include a page in a workbook for these dates....

Day treatment programme is clinically-based 6-week structured integrated programme for out patiens with schizophrenia, best after first attack, when patients need psychological support as soon as possible to cope with their illness and with reality,that they have to use drugs. The programme is led by psychiatrist and nurse-therapist. The group day treatment programme consists of individual and family psychoeducation,social skill training, life style improvement intervention, cognitive remediation and information aided relapse prevention programme ITAREPS. The principal aim of day treatment programme i afford place for psychiatric rehabilitation and surmount stage after release from hospital. Combination of all those interventions is more effective. And by this way doctors try to improve quality of patient"s life and make easy return to society. Although they try to educate patients and their families to recognize early warning signs of relapse. Main problems are: recognize illness,bad manipulation with informations,changing relapse and remissions,stigma of schizophrenia in society,support in family. Patients have to know,that they are ill. They have to understand, that if they take pills every day, the relapse does not come. And they will take pills, if they will understand, why is it so important. They...

It has in this review article been cited several different studies and sources, all concerning the prevention of relapse of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders; The different approaches to treatment (programs, type of psychotherapy etc.) have been discussed according to evidence based research and randomized controlled trials. Although some explanations have been given about terms used in the literature, as well as some definitions to enable classifications in future studies, it has been focused only on the preventive measures used in schizophrenia; a detailed description of different subgroups of schizophrenia, as well as detailed descriptions of pharmacology in euroleptics is beyond the scope of this article. The recognition of relapse symptoms was first considered and defined, and the different approaches was then discussed; Outpatient treatment plans and relapse prevention plans, as well as the impact of cognitive behavioral therapy and psychotherapy have been discussed in subsequent chapters. In this section, it was especially focused on the ITAREPS program and its impact on the relapse prevention. The role of medications was then defined and supported with clinical studies and trials.

O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a estabilidade do fechamento dos diastemas interincisivos superiores, verificando sua correlacao com a largura inicial desses espacos, a sobressaliencia, a sobremordida e o paralelismo de raizes. A amostra foi composta por 30 pacientes com pelo menos um diastema, com largura minima de 0,77mm e media do somatorio dos tres diastemas interincisivos de 2,64mm (DP = 1,46; minimo= 0,77; maximo= 8,04). Todos os pacientes apresentavam os caninos superiores permanentes com, no minimo, a metade da coroa intrabucal. As mensuracoes foram realizadas em modelos de estudo (largura dos diastemas, sobressaliencia e sobremordida) e radiografias panorâmicas (paralelismo de raizes), obtidos nos estagios pre-tratamento, final de tratamento e, pelo menos, 2,4 anos pos-tratamento. Os resultados da analise de variancia para medidas repetidas demonstraram que a recidiva do diastema mediano foi significante (media= 0,45mm, DP= 0,66), mas foi estatisticamente menor do que sua largura inicial, e os diastemas entre os incisivos centrais e laterais permaneceram fechados, na maioria dos casos. Ocorreu recidiva do diastema mediano em 18 pacientes (60% da amostra) e 19 pacientes apresentaram reabertura de pelo menos um dos diastemas interincisivos. De acordo com a analise de regressao multipla, os unicos fatores associados a recidiva do diastema mediano foram a largura pretratamento deste espaco (p=0,000) e a alteracao da sobressaliencia durante o periodo pos-tratamento (p=0,046). Nao foi encontrada associacao entre o paralelismo de raizes e a recidiva dos diastemas interincisivos. / This study evaluated the stability of maxillary anterior diastemas closure and its association with relapse and dental casts variables (interincisor width, overjet and overbite) and also with root parallelism. Sample comprised 30 patients with at least one pretreatment anterior diastema of 0.77mm or greater after eruption of maxillary permanent canines. Data were obtained from dental casts and panoramic radiographs taken pretreatment, posttreatment and at least 2 years postretention. The sum of initial mean width of the diastemas was 2.64mm (SD=1.46, minimum=0.77). Repeated measures analysis of variance demonstrated significant relapse of median diastema (mean=0.45mm, SD=0.66) but this value was statistically slighter than its initial width, and closure of diastemas located between central incisors and lateral incisors showed great stability. Relapse of median diastema occurred in 18 cases, and 19 patients showed at least one space recurrence. Only initial diastema severity width and relapse of overjet showed association with the relapse of median diastema. There was no association between interincisor diastemas relapse and root parallelism.

Introdução: Após o tratamento primário do câncer invasor de colo de útero, não existe protocolo de seguimento rigorosamente definido para essas pacientes. O tipo de acompanhamento dessas mulheres é individualizado, e não há consenso sobre a melhor estratégia a ser adotada. Objetivo: Avaliar o papel dos exames de seguimento (exame físico, citologia e exames de imagens) pós-tratamento de neoplasia de colo uterino no diagnóstico de recidivas assintomáticas e sintomáticas. Material e métodos: Foram revisados todos os prontuários das pacientes com diagnóstico de câncer de colo uterino desde 1985 até 2010. Nesse período, houve um total de 359 pacientes elegíveis para o estudo, sendo 64 destas com recidiva tumoral. Todas as análises estatísticas foram realizadas com a ajuda do programa SPSS v.18.0. Foi considerado um nível de significância de 5%. Resultados: Das 359 pacientes consideradas para o estudo, 64 (17,8%) apresentaram recidiva tumoral. Destas, 34 (53,1%) foram sintomáticas, e 30 (46,9%), assintomáticas. A maioria das pacientes teve sua recidiva diagnosticada através do exame físico, tanto no grupo das pacientes sintomáticas (50%) como no das assintomáticas (66,7%) (p = 0000). O exame citopatológico foi o responsável pela detecção da recidiva em somente um caso em ambos os grupos, correspondendo a 2,9 e 3,3%, respectivamente (p = 0000). Os exames de imagem (raio X de tórax, tomografia abdominal, ecografia abdominal, cintilografia óssea) somam 10 casos (29,4%) dos diagnósticos nas pacientes sintomáticas e oito casos (26,6%) nas assintomáticas (p = 0000). Não houve diferença estatisticamente significativa entre os grupos ou entre os diferentes métodos de detecção de recidiva. Ajustando para potenciais fatores de confusão, como a idade e o tipo de tratamento, também não houve associação. Conclusão: O grande sinalizador de recidiva tumoral neste estudo foi o exame físico. Nenhum dos exames coadjuvantes foi capaz de detectar as recorrências, tanto nas pacientes sintomáticas como nas assintomáticas. Esses resultados mostram a grande necessidade de estudos prospectivos que comparem a efetividade de diferentes regimes de seguimento que avaliem questões como a sobrevida global e a qualidade de vida. / Introduction: There is no strictly defined follow-up protocol for patients who have undergone primary treatment for invasive cervical cancer. These women are managed on a case-by-case basis and there is no consensus on the first-choice strategy. Objective: To evaluate the role played by follow-up tests and examinations (physical examination, cytology and imaging exams) in diagnosing symptomatic and asymptomatic relapses after treatment for neoplasms of the cervix. Materials and Methods: Data were collected from medical records for all patients diagnosed with cervical cancer from 1985 to 2010. There were a total of 359 eligible patients during that period, 64 of whom had tumor relapses. All statistical analyses were performed with the aid of SPSS v.18.0. The significance level adopted was 5%. Results: Sixty-four (17.8%) of the 359 patients investigated suffered tumor relapse. Thirty-four (53.1%) were symptomatic and 30 (46.9%) were asymptomatic. A majority of patients had tumor relapse diagnosed during physical examination, both among the symptomatic patients (50%), and the asymptomatic patients (66.7%) (p = 0.274). Cytopathology was responsible for detecting relapse in just 1 case in each group, corresponding to 2.9 and 3.3%, respectively (p = 0.999 Imaging exams (chest X-ray, abdominal tomography, abdominal ultrasound, bone scintigraphy) detected 10 (29.4%) relapses among symptomatic patients and 8 cases (26.6%) among asymptomatic patients (p = 0.770). There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups or between the different methods of detecting relapses. There was still no association after adjustment for potential confounding factors such as age and type of treatment. Conclusions: Physical examination was the preeminent method for detecting tumor relapse in this study. None of the other tests or exams were capable of detecting relapses in both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. These results highlights the urgent need for prospective studies that compare the efficacy of different follow-up regimes, analyzing factors such as global survival and quality of life.

M.A. / The treatment of substance abuse remains a challenging process with relapse an ever-present risk. For those offering treatment within this field, such as the South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (SANCA), it is of cardinal importance to evaluate the outcomes of their interventions. Currently, there is no quantifiable and standardised method that SANCA can use to establish and assess how the actual outcomes of their programmes compare to their intended programme goals. Kranz and O’Hare (2006) argue for the evaluation of substance abuse treatment programmes through the use of scales to quantify various aspects of the treatment process which can then serve as a measure of its effectiveness. Effectiveness in this instance refers broadly to a patient’s maintenance of his/her sobriety for a period of 12 months or more, combined with an increase in his/her general functioning. Therefore, this study aims to demonstrate the technically complex process of developing a content valid framework for a scale on behalf of SANCA that adheres to their requirements for programme evaluation. The study is guided by an adapted model of ecometric scale development presented schematically by Faul and Hudson (1999). Through the use of a grounded theory approach, the study shows how to identify the expectations for a scale in the organisation and organise SANCA’s treatment strategy into a framework within which the areas of measurement can be placed. The study then demonstrates the construction of operational assessment areas through empirical data collection that adequately reflects such expectations. It also serves to test for content validity of the assessment areas, through the application of domain sampling theory. The study reveals the process undertaken to convert those assessment areas into constructs by conceptualising and operationalising them into working definitions. Lastly, drawing on those defined constructs, it populates a series of exemplar items designed for illustrative purposes.

L'addiction aux drogues est une pathologie psychiatrique chronique qui représente un problème de santé publique majeur. Malgré des avancées importantes permettant de mieux comprendre les modifications cérébrales induites par les drogues d'abus, les thérapies restent encore limitées. Ainsi, l'étude des processus cérébraux qui sous-tendent les risques de rechute à long terme semble être centrale à l'élaboration de nouvelles stratégies thérapeutiques. Une partie de cette thèse vise à déterminer les modifications cérébrales induites à long terme lors du sevrage, suite à une prise chronique de cocaïne. Notre première étude a révélé une réduction de la densité vasculaire cérébrale lors du sevrage précoce, exclusivement localisée dans le cortex cingulaire. Dans la seconde étude, nous avons mis en évidence des modifications du métabolisme cérébral et étudié leur évolution lors du sevrage. Après un mois de sevrage, période où l'on trouve le phénomène d'incubation du « craving », nous avons mis en évidence une réduction du métabolisme cortical et striatal alors que l'amygdale se voit hyperactivée témoignant d'une dérégulation des fonctions cérébrales. Enfin, nous avons caractérisé le mécanisme sous-jacent à l'effet « anti-craving » de l'environnement enrichi (EE). Nous avons émis l'hypothèse que l'EE agirait comme une récompense alternative pour diminuer la recherche de cocaïne, ainsi nous avons testé les effets de l'exposition au sucrose et à l'exercice physique sur le comportement de recherche de drogue. Nous avons montré que l'accès à une récompense alternative pendant le sevrage ne permet pas de réduire la recherche de cocaïne suggérant que l’EE n'agit pas exclusivement comme une récompense alternative. / Drugs addiction is a chronic brain disorder representing a major public health problem. Although important advances allowed a better understanding of the cerebral modifications induced by chronic exposure to drugs, the therapies still nowadays limited. Therefore the investigation of cerebral processes that underlie the persistent risks of relapse, seem to be crucial to offer new therapeutic strategies. A part of this thesis aims at investigating the cerebral modifications induced in a long term during the withdrawal, due to a chronic voluntary intake of cocaine. In our first study we found a reduction of the density of cerebral vessels during the early withdrawal selectively localized in the cingular cortex. In our second study we found that cocaine intake leads to modifications of cerebral metabolism that evolve during the withdrawal. After one month of withdrawal, at a time when the phenomenon of incubation of craving is found, we found a decrease in cortical and striatal metabolism and a hyperactivation of the amygdala which demonstrates a persistent disregulation of brain functioning. Finally, in our third study, we tried to dissect the mechanism underlying the anti-craving effect of the enriched environment (EE). We hypothesized that the EE acts as an alternative reward to decrease the cocaine seeking behavior. Thus we tested the effects of exposure to sucrose or the physical exercise on relapse to cocaine. We demonstrated that the access to an alternative reward during the withdrawal does not allow reducing cocaine seeking which suggests that the EE does not act exclusively as an alternative reward.

Background: Alcohol misuse and dependency are major health problems worldwide. Despite the availability of a number of evidence-based treatments for alcohol-dependency, a large proportion of people relapse following detoxification. The costs to society and the individual are vast, not only economically but in terms of social and interpersonal functioning also. There is a recognised need to understand the factors that contribute to poorer outcomes in this population. Cognitive impairment is one factor that has demonstrated considerable associations with poor outcomes in the wider substance-misuse population. Aims: This thesis has two sections. The first comprises a systematic review which aimed to present the objective evidence for emotional decision-making deficits in the alcohol dependent population. The second is an empirical study which aimed to establish whether or not relapse can be predicted in a severely alcohol dependent population in the early stages following inpatient detoxification. In addition, a normative dataset for this clinical population using the ACE-III is presented. Methods: For the systematic review, a structured search of the literature relating to emotional decision-making in alcohol dependent samples was conducted. Iterative application of pre-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria identified eighteen studies for critical review. Quality assessment of these studies was undertaken and validated by means of calculating inter-rater reliability. For the empirical study, two sub-samples of a cross-sectional group of patients being treated for severe alcohol-dependence were examined; one to collate normative data for the ACE-III (N=73) and one to investigate associations between the ACE-III and relapse (N=20), including covariates of age, mood, anxiety and motivation. Results: The systematic review demonstrated substantial support for a deficit in emotional decision-making ability in alcohol-dependence. Methodological quality of the reviewed papers was moderate to high. Deficits in performance on a task of emotional decision-making compared to healthy controls indicated a reduced learning curve in alcohol dependent samples. Limitations of the studies included failure to report power analyses and effect sizes, insufficient detail regarding methodology and exclusion of common comorbidities in alcohol-dependence. The empirical study demonstrated clinically significant cognitive impairment in a sample of severely alcohol dependent individuals in the early stages following detoxification. In a smaller sample, cognitive functioning was not found to be predictive of relapse at one-month post-detoxification. Associations were identified between age and ACE-III score and between age and relapse status. Age was not predictive of outcome. Conclusions: The available evidence points towards the existence of emotional decision-making deficits in alcohol dependent individuals. These are likely to impact on the ability of individuals make the health behaviour changes required to recover from alcohol dependence. Further research may be helpful in identifying factors associated with increased decision-making deficit in this specific population and investigating the processes underlying such difficulties. The clinical normative dataset presented in the empirical study points towards generalised cognitive impairment during the early stages of abstinence which may negatively impact on ability to engage meaningfully with psychosocial interventions. Performance on the ACE-III was not found to predict relapse in the current sample. Previous research would suggest that the links between cognitive functioning and relapse are less well defined in alcohol-misusing samples than in the wider substance-misuse population. Therefore future research may help to clarify this association in alcohol dependent samples. It is acknowledged that the ACE-III is yet to be validated for use in the alcohol dependent population and is limited in its ability to assess executive functions. Given the high prevalence of executive functioning deficits in the alcohol dependent population, it seems of importance to use cognitive screening tools which place appropriate emphasis on these abilities. Service providers are encouraged to incorporate routine cognitive screening into clinical practice and consider the implications of cognitive impairment at both individual and service delivery levels.

Coping with relapse in the drug addiction treatment is a frequent problem. To accept and admit a possibility of a relapse in an individual, which has already a took part, and duly finished his residential treatment, is important for his future life in abstinence. Relapses must be seen as a natural part of the therapeutic process and its needed to prepare clients and their families to them, during the treatment. Relapses might lead client to a deeper self-knowledge and also to gain the ability to recognize and manage risk situations. Research work was aimed on clients, who underwent at least one or more attempts to addiction treatment, which, although they completed it in due time, they are unable to remain in longer abstinence of drugs, and are reaching back to fall into previous level of drug dosage. Aim of this work was to map into more detaile the factors stading in the backround of relapse in an individual client after each treatment, to examine the circumstances, motivation for abstinence, decisions, and mental states, which clients were aware before starting the relapse, by using semi - structured interviews and anamnestic data. The basic findings of this research include the changing causes which trigger relapses in the majority of clients who had repeated treatments. There was a lack of...

A recent systematic literature and meta-analysis reported relative efficacy of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) for the treatment of toxoplasmic encephalitis (TE) in HIV-infected adults. Here, we estimated relapse rates during secondary prophylaxis with TMP-SMX, and further explored differences in relapse rates prior to introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and the widespread adoption of HAART. A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials yielded 707 studies whereby 663 were excluded after abstract screening, and 38 were excluded after full review leaving 6 studies for extraction. We performed double data extraction with a third-party adjudicator. Study designs varied with only one randomized study, four prospective cohorts and one retrospective cohort. Relapse rates were transformed using the Freeman-Tukey method and pooled using both fixed-effect and random-effects meta-analysis models. The TMP-SMX relapse rate was 16.4% (95% CI = 6.2% to 30.3%) based on random-effects models. When the disaggregated pre-HAART studies (n = 4) were included, the relapse rate was 14.9% (random effects; 95% CI = 3.7% to 31.9%). Analysis of two post-HAART studies indicated a relapse rate of 19.2% (random effects; 95% CI = 2.8% to 45.6%). Comparing the relapse rates between pre- and post-HAART studies were contrary to what might be expected based on known benefits of HAART therapy in this population. Nevertheless, cautious interpretation is necessary considering the heterogeneity of the included studies and a limited number of subjects receiving TMP-SMX reported in the post-HAART era.