Family planning needs and STD risk behaviours of female psychiatric out-patients
TL;DR: The results underscore the priority for developing programmes that reduce female psychiatric patients' risk for unwanted pregnancies and STDs.
Abstract: BACKGROUND There are few studies concerning the family planning needs of female chronic psychiatric patients. We aimed to determine the contraceptive needs and sexually transmitted disease (STD) risk-behaviours of female psychiatric out-patients.
METHOD Sixty-six female out-patients with major psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and mood disorders, completed a semi-structured interview (response rate = 63%) and were individually matched for age and ethnicity with 66 women who had never been treated for psychiatric illness. They answered questions on child-rearing and on their methods of contraception in relation to their attitudes towards pregnancy, as well as on their risk for STDs.
RESULTS Compared with controls, the female patients reported having had significantly more induced abortions and were significantly more likely to have given up their own children for others to raise. Heterosexually active psychiatric patients were significantly more likely than controls to have had more than one male sexual partner, to have been pressured into unwanted sexual intercourse, and to report having had sexual intercourse with a suspected bisexual over the preceding year.
CONCLUSIONS These results underscore the priority for developing programmes that reduce female psychiatric patients' risk for unwanted pregnancies and STDs.
66 patients 18-50 years of age with chronic psychiatric disorders were interviewed using semistructured interviews at a community mental health center in Auckland, New Zealand, resulting in a response rate of 62.9%. Each patient was matched with a control for ethnicity and age. The psychiatric patients also completed the Mini-Mental State Examination. The interview covered demographic, obstetric, and gynecologic information and information on women's risk for unwanted pregnancies and STDs. The mean age of cases was 36.03 years and that of the controls was 36.20 years. The mean age of leaving school was around 16 years. The mean duration of psychiatric illness was 12.5 years. 24.2% of patients vs. 50.0% of controls were currently married or living with a male partner (p 0.005); 24.2% of patients vs. 54.5% of controls had a job (p 0.001); and 92.3% of patients vs. 36.4% of controls were receiving social welfare (p 0.001). 43 (65.1%) of the patients reported having been pregnant at least once, the total number of completed pregnancies being 80. 9 of the pregnancies ended in miscarriages, 17 in induced abortions, 2 in stillbirths, and 52 in live births. 58 (87.9%) controls had been pregnant at least once. 17 patients (39.5%) and 8 controls (13.8%) had had one or more induced abortions (p 0.01). There was no significant difference between the two groups with regard to miscarriages or stillbirths. 19 children of the patients were under 16 years of age and 8 of them were not living with their mothers. A significantly greater percentage of children of patients (42%), compared with the children of controls (3.8%), were not being reared by their biological mothers (p 0.001). 35 patients (55.4%) had had heterosexual intercourse within the past year. Only one patient had not used birth control. Heterosexually active patients (n = 35) were significantly more likely than heterosexually active controls (n = 52) to have had more than one male sexual partner, to report having been pressured into unwanted intercourse, and to have had intercourse with a bisexual person.
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TL;DR: HIV prevention efforts targeting adults with SMI must occur on multiple levels, address several domains of influence, and be integrated into existing services (e.g., psychotherapy, substance abuse treatment, housing programs).
284 citations
TL;DR: The choice of the less harmful option in pregnancy should be limited to FGAs in drug-naive patients, and when pregnancy occurs during antipsychotic treatment, the choice to continue the previous therapy should be preferred.
Abstract: Objective: Both first- (FGAs) and second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) are routinely used in treating severe and persistent psychiatric disorders. However, until now no articles have analyzed systematically the safety of both classes of psychotropics during pregnancy. Data sources and search strategy: Medical literature information published in any language since 1950 was identified using MEDLINE/PubMed, TOXNET, EMBASE, and The Cochrane Library. Additional references were identified from the reference lists of published articles. Bibliographical information, including contributory unpublished data, was also requested from companies developing drugs. Search terms were pregnancy, psychotropic drugs, (a)typical-first-second-generation antipsychotics, and neuroleptics. A separate search was also conducted to complete the safety profile of each reviewed medication. Searches were last updated on July 2008. Data selection: All articles reporting primary data on the outcome of pregnancies exposed to antipsychotics were acquired, without methodological limitations. Conclusions: Reviewed information was too limited to draw definite conclusions on structural teratogenicity of FGAs and SGAs. Both classes of drugs seem to be associated with an increased risk of neonatal complications. However, most SGAs appear to increase risk of gestational metabolic complications and babies large for gestational age and with mean birth weight significantly heavier as compared with those exposed to FGAs. These risks have been reported rarely with FGAs. Hence, the choice of the less harmful option in pregnancy should be limited to FGAs in drug-naive patients. When pregnancy occurs during antipsychotic treatment, the choice to continue the previous therapy should be preferred.
229 citations
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that psychiatrically ill patients are vulnerable to sexual and physical abuse during adulthood and underscore psychiatrists' responsibility to routinely inquire about abuse experiences.
Abstract: Because there are few controlled studies, we aimed to determine the prevalence of sexual and physical abuse reported by psychiatric outpatients compared with matched controls. The sample consisted of 158 outpatients with major mental disorders including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder who responded to a semi-structured interview (response rate = 64.8%) and who were individually matched for gender, age, and ethnicity with 158 outpatients who had never been treated for psychiatric illness. They answered questions about whether and when they had ever been sexually or physically abused, and about the type and circumstances of abuse. Abuse was more common during adulthood (16 years or older); 45 psychiatric patients (28.5%) were sexually abused and 43 (27.3%) were physically abused. Compared with the controls, patients were significantly more likely to report a history of sexual or physical abuse during adulthood (chi2 = 5.15, df = 1, p = .02; chi2 = 4.09, df = 1, p = .04 respectively). During adulthood, female patients were significantly more likely to be sexually and physically abused than male patients, and those sexually abused were significantly more likely to report a history of sexual abuse during childhood. However, patients were not significantly more likely to report a history of sexual or physical abuse during childhood compared with the controls. These findings demonstrate that psychiatrically ill patients are vulnerable to sexual and physical abuse during adulthood and underscore psychiatrists' responsibility to routinely inquire about abuse experiences.
91 citations
TL;DR: The findings show that people with psychotic illness are prepared to discuss issues relating to sex and relationship matters and a drive towards more rigorous holistic nursing assessments and appropriate psychosocial responses is proposed.
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89 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors asked what sort of creatures would we be if we were independent, if marriage didn't come into it, if men were optional? Julia said we wouldn't be like the great virginal heroines of the last century.
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82 citations
References
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TL;DR: A simplified, scored form of the cognitive mental status examination, the “Mini-Mental State” (MMS) which includes eleven questions, requires only 5-10 min to administer, and is therefore practical to use serially and routinely.
76,181 citations
01 Jan 2002
TL;DR: The Mini-Mental State (MMS) as mentioned in this paper is a simplified version of the standard WAIS with eleven questions and requires only 5-10 min to administer, and is therefore practical to use serially and routinely.
Abstract: EXAMINATION of the mental state is essential in evaluating psychiatric patients.1 Many investigators have added quantitative assessment of cognitive performance to the standard examination, and have documented reliability and validity of the several “clinical tests of the sensorium”.2*3 The available batteries are lengthy. For example, WITHERS and HINTON’S test includes 33 questions and requires about 30 min to administer and score. The standard WAIS requires even more time. However, elderly patients, particularly those with delirium or dementia syndromes, cooperate well only for short periods.4 Therefore, we devised a simplified, scored form of the cognitive mental status examination, the “Mini-Mental State” (MMS) which includes eleven questions, requires only 5-10 min to administer, and is therefore practical to use serially and routinely. It is “mini” because it concentrates only on the cognitive aspects of mental functions, and excludes questions concerning mood, abnormal mental experiences and the form of thinking. But within the cognitive realm it is thorough. We have documented the validity and reliability of the MMS when given to 206 patients with dementia syndromes, affective disorder, affective disorder with cognitive impairment “pseudodementia”5T6), mania, schizophrenia, personality disorders, and in 63 normal subjects.
70,887 citations
01 Jan 1996
TL;DR: In this article, the authors compared the sexual, reproduction, and childrearing characteristics of women with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders with those of women without serious mental illness, and found that women with schizophrenic disorders had more lifetime sexual partners, were less likely to have a current partner, and were more likely to engage in prostitution.
Abstract: Objective: This study compared sexuality, reproduction, and childrearing characteristics of women with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders with those of women without serious mental illness. Methods: A semistructured interview was given to 46 women meeting Research Diagnostic Criteria for schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and to 50 control subjects without major mental illness who were matched for age, race, education, employment status, and religion. Results: Compared with the control subjects, the women with schizophrenic disorders had more lifetime sexual partners, were less likely to have a current partner, and were more likely to have been raped and to have engaged in prostitution. Despite being at high risk for HIV infection,
230 citations
TL;DR: Health care delivery systems could better meet the needs of women with severe mental illness by providing social skills training, family planning, and more consistent screening for pregnancy, HIV, and battering.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: This study compared sexuality, reproduction, and childrearing characteristics of women with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders with those of women without serious mental illness. METHODS: A semistructured interview was given to 46 women meeting Research Diagnostic Criteria for schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and to 50 control subjects without major mental illness who were matched for age, race, education, employment status, and religion. RESULTS: Compared with the control subjects, the women with schizophrenic disorders had more lifetime sexual partners, were less likely to have a current partner, and were more likely to have been raped and to have engaged in prostitution. Despite being at high risk for HIV infection, as a group they were less likely to have been tested for HIV. They reported wanting sex less often than did control subjects and rated their physical and emotional satisfaction with sex lower. They had fewer planned pregnancies, more unwanted pregnancies, and more abortions and were more often victims of violence during pregnancy. They were more likely to have lost custody of children and to report that they were unable to meet their children's basic needs and less likely to have another caregiver helping them raise their children. Both groups reported high rates of substance abuse during pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS: Health care delivery systems could better meet the needs of women with severe mental illness by providing social skills training, family planning, and more consistent screening for pregnancy, HIV, and battering. In addition, barriers to care for pregnant women with severe mental illness and substance abuse should be reduced, and parenting training should be incorporated into psychosocial rehabilitation programs for mentally ill parents. Language: en
217 citations
TL;DR: There is an urgent need for HIV prevention programs targeted at urban chronic mentally ill adults and risk-producing characteristics of patient relationships and social networks should be addressed in the development of prevention interventions.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE Chronic mentally ill adults have been found to be at risk for HIV infection The authors investigated the prevalence of HIV risk behaviors among psychiatric outpatients Correlates of HIV risk factors and characteristics of patient relationships in which risk occurred were investigated METHOD Structured interviews were conducted with 95 chronic mentally ill adults from urban community support service programs The interviews focused on sexual and substance use behavior, history of HIV risk behaviors, and relationship characteristics related to risk RESULTS The study showed that 27% of all patients had had two or more sex partners in the previous year and 18% had received money or drugs for sex High rates of illicit drug use were also found, with frequent use of drugs or alcohol in association with sexual activity Multiple regression analyses showed that use of illicit drugs, meeting sex partners in psychiatric clinics, and meeting partners in bars accounted for a substantial proportion of the variance in HIV risk behavior CONCLUSIONS These results suggest an urgent need for HIV prevention programs targeted at urban chronic mentally ill adults Risk-producing characteristics of patient relationships and social networks should be addressed in the development of prevention interventions
209 citations