Esra Yazici

Introduction: This study examines the impact of occupational therapy (OT) activities—such as music, painting and sports—on treatment outcomes for patients with alcohol and substance use disorder treated at the inpatient addiction treatment unit of Sakarya University Training and Research Hospital, in Turkey. The research specifically compares hospitalisation duration and treatment completion rates before and after these activities were discontinued due to regulatory changes. Methods: A total of 332 patients were analysed, divided into two groups: those hospitalised during a 5‐month period with available OT activities (training period) and those without such activities (non‐training period). Sociodemographic data, treatment duration, completion of the recommended inpatient treatment program (20 days), type of hospitalisation (voluntary versus compulsory hospitalisation) and scores from the Craving Scale and Treatment Motivation Questionnaire were retrospectively analysed. Results: No significant differences were observed between groups concerning age, gender, type of addiction, Craving Scale levels, or hospitalisation type. However, patients in the training period group had significantly longer hospital stays (15.75 vs. 12.86 days; p < 0.005) and higher treatment completion rates (50.3% vs. 34.2%; p < 0.005). Though the non‐training period group had higher treatment motivation scores ( p < 0.05), this did not correspond to longer stays or higher completion rates. Discussion and Conclusions: OT activities may reduce early discharges for alcohol and substance use disorder patients, extend inpatient treatment duration and increase the likelihood of completing the recommended program. This study highlights the potential importance of OT in enhancing patient retention and adherence to treatment protocols for substance use disorders.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between serum neuroactive steroids (NAS) and oxytocin and craving and psychosocial functioning in men diagnosed with methamphetamine use disorder (MUD). Methods: In this observational cross-sectional study, 40 men with MUD (PG) and 41 non-substance-use-disorder controls (CG) completed measures of emotion dysregulation (DERS-16), attachment (ECR-R), aggression (BPAQ), and suicidal ideation (BSS). PG additionally completed the Substance Craving Scale (SCS) and Addiction Profile Index (API). Serum allopregnanolone (ALLO), DHEAS, testosterone, 17β-estradiol (E2), and oxytocin were assayed. Results: The results indicated that the PG exhibited significantly higher scores than the CG across all psychological measures. Robust adjusted group effects were observed for DERS-16 (Model 1: F = 35.507, p < 0.001; Model 2: F = 18.225, p < 0.001) and trait anger (Model 1: F = 41.104, p < 0.001; Model 2: F = 16.732, p < 0.001). Notably, serum levels of ALLO, DHEAS, testosterone, E2, and oxytocin did not differ significantly between groups. However, hormonal measures were strongly intercorrelated within both groups (r ≈ 0.877–0.936, all p < 0.001). In the PG, craving demonstrated positive correlations with DHEAS (r = 0.384, p = 0.014), testosterone (r = 0.415, p = 0.008), E2 (r = 0.360, p = 0.023), and oxytocin (r = 0.350, p = 0.027). A multivariable model analyzing craving was statistically significant (R² = 0.350; F(3,36) = 6.474, p = 0.001), with composite hormonal factor (B = 2.390, p = 0.016) serving as an independent predictor, while API Excluding Craving(API-EC) (p = 0.094) and DERS-16 did not emerge as a significant factor (p = 0.056). In hormone-specific models controlling for API-EC and DERS-16, DHEAS (p = 0.012), testosterone (p = 0.007), oxytocin (p = 0.023), and E2 (p = 0.023) retained significance after false discovery rate (FDR) correction; ALLO did not (p = 0.055). Conclusions: Despite the absence of significant differences in peripheral NAS and oxytocin levels between groups, men with MUD exhibited pronounced psychosocial impairments. The craving experienced during inpatient treatment was primarily elucidated by an integrated endocrine profile. These findings underscore the necessity for larger longitudinal studies incorporating repeated hormonal assessments to further explore these relationships.

This study aims to identify culture and region-specific barriers to seeking treatment in women at risk for depression during the perinatal period, which ma

Background: Individuals with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) and Substance Use Disorder (SUD) face significant challenges at personal, familial, and social levels. Temperament and character traits play a key role in addictive behaviors, yet their relationship with music preferences in these patients has rarely been examined. This study explores the relationship between temperament-character traits and music preferences in AUD or SUD patients. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 351 patients diagnosed with AUD or SUD, who were receiving treatment at the Inpatient Detoxification Centre (IDC). All participants completed the Sociodemographic Data Form, Music Preferences Questionnaire (MPQ), Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), and Addiction Profile Index (API). Results: The participants were classified into three distinct clusters as determined by cluster analysis. Cluster 1 comprised individuals demonstrating a preference for high-energy and modern styles ( n = 53), while most subjects ( n = 246) were included in the cluster characterized by low interest and fantasy arabesque preferences (Cluster 2). Cluster 3 consisted of subjects with broad and balanced preferences ( n = 52). There were no significant sociodemographic differences among the clusters, but significant variations in personality traits were found, particularly in novelty seeking, reward dependence, and cooperativeness. Alcohol users preferred Classical Turkish music ( p <.005 ), while substance users favoured Hip-hop/Rap ( p <.005 ) and Techno/Electronic music ( p <.005 ). A weak but significant positive correlation was found between Hip-hop/Rap preference and educational status (ρ = 0.179, p = .001). Similarly, Classical Turkish Music preference showed a weak positive correlation with age (ρ = 0.263, p < .001). Conclusions: In conclusion, AUD or SUD patients have low interest in music types and limited musical tastes. It has been observed that there is a relationship between these patients’ novelty seeking and cooperativeness traits and their music preferences, and that individuals prefer certain music types more than others, depending on their diagnosis with weak additional associations with demographic factors, particularly age and educational level. Trial registration: Not applicable.

Anxiety and depression are prevalent psychological disorders that can occur throughout life, with a notably higher prevalence among women during the perinatal period, encompassing pregnancy and the postpartum phase. The early detection and monitoring of these conditions are crucial for timely intervention and improved patient outcomes. Although healthcare analytics has progressed considerably, the extraction of actionable insights from large-scale patient data remains computationally intensive, especially under instant processing constraints. Furthermore, conventional healthcare infrastructures frequently lack the scalability, computational efficiency, and architectural flexibility required to integrate machine learning models into clinical workflows effectively. To address these challenges, the proposed distributed computing framework employs Apache Kafka for instant data streaming, Apache Spark for efficient in-memory machine learning–based analytics, and Kubernetes for orchestrating scalable, fault-tolerant deployment. This architectural configuration facilitates continuous data ingestion, accelerates analytical processing, and ensures system resilience, thereby enabling the timely identification of psychological conditions such as anxiety and depression during the perinatal period. Unlike schematic or batch-only prior work, we provide a production-ready, streaming-first clinical deployment and an empirical scaling analysis linking executors to end-to-end diagnostic latency and resource efficiency. Performance evaluations demonstrate the efficiency and scalability of the proposed system, highlighting its potential for real-world applications in healthcare analytics.

The perinatal psychiatry outpatient clinic in Türkiye that provides perinatal period-specific mental health services is the first and only one and it is also one of the few examples in the world. It has been continuing since 2021 in Sakarya Training and Research Hospital. The aim of this study was to evaluate the sociodemographic and clinical data of patients applying to the perinatal psychiatry outpatient clinic. Of the 314 women who applied to the Perinatal Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic between 01.03.2021 and 31.03.2023, 130 were included in the study. In order to confirm the diagnoses of the participants and to evaluate additional psychiatric diseases, a SCID-1 interview adapted to DSM-5 was conducted. A comprehensive sociodemographic data form was applied to obtain information about sociodemographic data and clinical features. The most frequent application period was found to be in the first trimester with 25.4%. It was seen that 30.8% of the participants had a chronic medical disease, and 26.2% had a history of psychological trauma. It was seen that the most common diagnosis during pregnancy was depression with 34.1%, the most common diagnosis after birth was depression with 53.6%, and 24.6% had suicidal thoughts. 40.7% of the pregnancies were unplanned and the unwanted pregnancy rate was 33.1%. Complications were observed in 19.5% of the patients during pregnancy. The findings of this study underline the importance of outpatient clinic specialized in the perinatal period, as well as the need for multidisciplinary work and encouragement of planned pregnancies.

Klotho and neurotrophic factors, including brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), nerve growth factor (NGF), and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), have been shown to play a role in cognitive functions. However, these molecules have not been investigated in bipolar disorder simultaneously to assess the interactions among them and their relationships with cognitive functions. This study investigated the relationships among cognitive function, klotho, and neurotrophic factors in patients with bipolar disorder in the remission period. Male, bipolar disorder (BD) patients (patient group, n = 48) in the remission period and healthy volunteers (control group, n = 48) were included in the study. The Stroop test and Wechsler Memory Scale–Visual Production Subtest were applied, and the serum levels of Klotho, BDNF, GDNF, and NGF were measured with an ELISA reader. The klotho protein levels (0.12 ± 0.15 and 0.17 ± 0.16) and NGF levels (34.36 ± 41.99 and 48.54 ± 41.06) in the patient group were significantly lower than those in the control group (Z = -3.071, p = 0.002 and Z = -2.217, p = 0.027, respectively). In the patient group, there was a positive correlation between the klotho and NGF levels (p = 0.003, rs = 0.413), and a negative correlation was detected between the NGF and GDNF levels (p = 0.013, rs = -0.355). Klotho and NGF were predictors of Weshler 40-min test results (adjusted R2 = 0.467), and Klotho and BDNF were predictors of Stroop test colour word reading time (adjusted R2 = 0.391) with other variables. In BD patients, klotho, BDNF, GDNF and NGF are associated with cognitive functions and exhibit different characteristics from those of the control group. Nevertheless, the differences related to these molecules seem to be associated with a regulatory system rather than merely an increase or decrease in serum levels.