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Applying the scales for the assessment of the quality of life of schizophrenic patients in terms of psychosocial functioning, statistically significant difference between groups was found. Results showed higher scores in the group of patients treated with injection preparation of long-acting risperidone concerning social activities and life satisfaction.

Risperidone is one of the most commonly used antipsychotics (AP), due to its safety and efficacy in reducing psychotic symptoms. Despite the favorable side effect profile, the therapy is accompanied by side effects due to the non-selectivity of this medicine. This review will briefly highlight the most important basic and clinical findings in this area, consider the clinical effects of AP-induced hyperprolactinemia (HPL), and suggest different approaches to the treatment.The route of application of this drug primarily affects the daily variation and the total concentration of drug levels in the blood, which consequently affects the appearance of side effects, either worsening or even reducing them. Our attention has been drawn to HPL, a frequent but neglected adverse effect observed in cases treated with Risperidone and its secondary manifestations. An increase in prolactin levels above the reference values result in impairment of other somatic functions (lactation, irregular menses, fertility) as well as a significant reduction in quality of life. It has been frequently shown that the side effects of the Risperidone are the most common cause of non-compliance with therapy, resulting in worsening of psychiatric symptoms and hospitalization. However, the mechanism of Risperidone-induced HPL is complicated and still far from fully understood. Most of the preclinical and clinical studies described in this study show that hyperprolactinemia is one of the most common if not the leading side effect of Risperidone therefore to improve the quality of life of these patients, clinicians must recognize and treat HPL associated with the use of these drugs.

BackgroundThe aims of our study are related to examining the relevance of teachers' attitudes toward the implementation of inclusive education. In addition, its subject is related to the implications on inclusive education policies, limitations of the existing study along with the recommendations for our future research endeavors.MethodsThe research is a cross-sectional study type. The sample included 64 primary school teachers in the lower grades of primary school (grades 1–4), selected by using simple random sampling, in three primary schools on the territory of Belgrade, Serbia in 2021 (26, 17, and 21 primary school teachers). The Questionnaire for Teachers, which was used as a research instrument, was taken from the Master's Thesis Studen Rajke, which was part of the project “Education for the Knowledge Society” at the Institute for Educational Research in Belgrade. Dependent variables measured in the study referred to the attitudes of primary school teachers toward inclusive education. Categorical variables are represented as frequencies and the Chi-square test was used to determine if a distribution of observed frequencies differed from the expected frequencies.ResultsOne in three teachers (32.8%) thought that inclusion was useful for children with disabilities (29.7%), of them thought that schools did not have the conditions for inclusive education, whereas one in four teachers (25.0%) believed that inclusion was not good. No statistically significant differences were found in the attitudes of professors, when observed in terms of their gender, age and length of service.ConclusionInvesting more resources and time in developing and implementing special education policies can promote successful inclusive education.

Objectives: Pre-electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) evaluation is an essential part of ECT preparation, a standard treatment in the psychiatric field. However, no routine pre-ECT evaluation has been published so far. This preliminary study aimed to explore different practices in pre-ECT evaluation across European countries. Methods:The data were collected as a snowball sample approach using an online survey from September 2019 to April 2020. The final analysis included data from 18 clinics placed in 16 European countries.Results: Regulations on the pre-ECT evaluation were found in 9 countries. All clinics reported doing complete blood count, serum electrolytes, and renal function analysis as a part of regular laboratory testing, alongside with a cardiovascular assessment. Ten clinics reported using psychiatric scales. Six clinics reported doing a cognitive assessment, of which all had regulations on the pre-ECT evaluation. Not one evaluation had the same sets of procedures and diagnostics. Conclusions:The differences in assessment approaches mirror high variability of the pre-ECT evaluation practice across Europe. Cognitive assessment and objectification of psychiatric symptoms should be a regular part of the pre-ECT evaluation because of the monitoring of the most common adverse effect and observing the clinical response to ECT. Standardization of the pre-ECT evaluation and ECT in general would remove criticisms and opposition to the treatment, make it based on the best of our knowledge, and provide a method respectful of patients' best interests and rights.

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Association of SOD2 V16A single-nucleotide polymorphism (rs4880) with drug hepatotoxicity were reported but relationships with amiodarone prescriptions remained unexplored. Research was an exploratory, controlled prospective clinical trial. Patients hospitalized and treated in Clinical Center in Kragujevac, Serbia (in year 2017) were divided into experimental (using amiodarone, having liver injury, n=29, 19 males, the mean age 66.8±10.4 years), control A (neither amiodarone use nor hepatotoxicity, n=29, 19, 66.1±10.3) and control B group (using amiodarone, not having hepatotoxicity, n=29, 19, 66.8±9.8). From blood samples, among other routine biochemistry, genotyping for SOD2 polymorphism Val16Ala was conducted using real-time PCR method with TaqMan® Genotyping Master Mix and TaqMan® DME Genotyping Assay for rs4880. Patients taking amiodarone and having liver injury were mostly carriers of Val/Val (TT) genotype (13 of 24 patients, 54.2%) while Val/Ala (TC) and Ala/Ala (CC) genotypes prevailed in control group A (19 of 40, 47.5%) and control group B (9 of 23, 39.1%), respectively (2=10.409, p=0.034). Frequency of Val (T) and Ala (C) alleles were 0.51 and 0.49, respectively in the whole study sample (Hardy Weinberg equilibrium, 2=0.56, p=0.454). Carriers of TT genotype had significantly higher ALT (437.0±1158.0 vs 81.9131.5 U/L), total bilirubin (28.320.5 vs 15.313.0 mol/L) and total bile acid concentrations (10.910.2 vs 6.45.3 mol/L) compared to carriers of TC genotype (U=2.331, p=0.020, U=3.204, p=0.001 and U=2.172, p=0.030, respectively). Higher incidence of 47T allele of SOD2 was inpatients with amiodarone-associated liver injury as compared to patients on amiodarone not experiencing hepatotoxic effects.