title: Brief Symptom Inventory symptom profiles of outpatients with borderline intellectual functioning and major depressive disorder or posttraumatic stress disorder: Comparison with patients from regular mental health care and patients with Mild Intellectual Disabilities.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In most countries, people with borderline intellectual functioning (BIF) are not considered a separate group in mental health care. There is little to no research on the impact of BIF on the presentation, nature and severity of mental health problems. The aim of the present exploratory study was to compare, in a naturalistic setting of patients referred to secondary care, symptom profiles of patients with BIF diagnosed with either major depressive disorder (MDD) or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to patients from regular mental health care (RMHC) and patients with Mild ID diagnosed with the same disorders.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used a cohort of adolescent and adult outpatients (aged 16-88) with or without BIF diagnosed with a primary diagnosis MDD or PTSD. Primary outcome was the nature and severity of psychopathological symptoms assessed at baseline using the Brief Symptom Inventory. All outcomes were adjusted for gender and age.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results showed that BIF patients with a primary diagnosis MDD reported less severe symptoms on BSI Total and the subscales Depression, Obsession-Compulsion and Psychoticism than patients from regular mental health care (RMHC). There were no statistically significant differences in reported symptom severity on BSI Total and the different BSI subscales between BIF patients with PTSD and either patients from RMHC or patients with Mild ID. Patients Mild ID, did report significantly less severe symptoms on the subscale Depression and on the subscale Psychoticism than patients from RMHC.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Since there were no other published studies into symptom profiles in patients with BIF compared to either patients with higher or lower levels of cognitive functioning, the study was mainly exploratory in nature, providing direction for future research. Results indicate that symptom profiles did not widely differ, but that there might be some characteristics unique to patients BIF separating them as a group from both patients from RMHC and patients with Mild ID.
authors.affiliation: Kristal Centre for Psychiatry and Intellectual Disability, Rivierduinen, Postbus 582, 2300 AN Leiden, The Netherlands. Electronic address: j.wieland@rivierduinen.nl.
authors.forename: Jannelien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wieland
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Frans G
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Zitman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010259:Paranoid Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D057566:Self Report; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Borderline intellectual functioning; Brief Symptom Inventory; Major depressive disorder; Mild Intellectual Disability; Posttraumatic stress disorder