title: Psychopathology of first-episode psychosis in HIV-positive persons in comparison to first-episode schizophrenia: a neglected issue.
abstract: This study aims to detect different psychopathological dimensions in first-episode psychoses with different underlying causes. We evaluated 22 subjects with first-episode psychosis, who differed in biological variables (HIV-positive versus HIV-negative) and who were compared by using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-Reviewer, the 18-item Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, the 14-item Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale and the Mini-Mental State Examination. HIV-positive subjects had higher mean scores on the global BPRS and on the paranoid Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale subscale compared with HIV-negative subjects. Conversely, higher prevalence of affective and anxious symptoms was found in the HIV-negative patients in comparison to HIV-positives. HIV-positives had significantly greater attention/concentration impairment than HIV-negative persons. In conclusion, taking into account psychopathological dimensions may help psychiatrists in clinical decision-making regarding the differential diagnosis of psychotic symptoms. The psychopathological pattern of first-episode psychosis in HIV-positive patients may represent an 'elementary model' of acute psychosis characterized by paranoid delusions in the absence of the usual affective symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy. deronchi@alma.unibo.it
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: De Ronchi
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bellini
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cremante
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ujkaj
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tarricone
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Selleri
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Quartesan
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Piselli
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Scudellari
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D010054:Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000523:psychology*; D018023:HIV Seronegativity; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011599:Psychopathology; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors