BRUGNOLI R.

Background: Schizophrenia is one of the mental disorders with the highest economic and social costs, with an important burden on patients, caregivers, and society. Objective: The objective of this study was to estimate the direct and social security costs of schizophrenia in Italy. As far as direct costs are concerned, those related to...

Background: Insomnia is the most commonly reported sleep problem in industrialized countries worldwide being present in about 36.8% of the general population. In Italy, such a percentage seems to be even higher. Although insomnia can be an independent disorder, it is most frequently observed as a comorbid condition and may precipitate,...

Introduction: Insomnia and circadian rhythm disorders, such as the delayed sleep phase syndrome, are frequent in psychiatric disorders and their evaluation and management in early stages should be a priority. The aim of this paper was to express recommendations on the use of exogenous melatonin, which exhibits both chronobiotic and...

Background. Greater levels of insight may be linked with depressive symptoms among patients with schizophrenia, however, it would be useful to characterize this association at symptomlevel, in order to inform research on interventions. Methods. Data on depressive symptoms (Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia) and insight (G12 item from...

A consensus has not yet been reached regarding the accuracy of people with schizophrenia in self-reporting their real-life functioning. In a large (n = 618) cohort of stable, community-dwelling schizophrenia patients we sought to: (1) examine the concordance of patients' reports of their real-life functioning with the reports of their key...

Background. Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs), although conceptualized as separate entities, may share some clinical and neurobiological features. ASD symptoms may have a relevant role in determining a more severe clinical presentation of schizophrenic disorder but their relationships with cognitive...

Improving real-life functioning is the main goal of the most advanced integrated treatment programs in people with schizophrenia. The Italian Network for Research on Psychoses previously explored, by using network analysis, the interplay among illness-related variables, personal resources, context-related factors and real-life functioning in a...

First generation antipsychotics (FGAs) are more likely to induce extrapyramidal side-effects (EPS) than second generation antipsychotics (SGAs), and EPS have been shown associated to cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. So far, no study has explored the relationships between EPS and social cognition (SC) in people with schizophrenia. Therefore,...