The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of migraine, alexithymia, and post-traumatic stress disorder among medical students at Cumhuriyet University of Sivas in Turkey. A total of 250 medical students participated in this study and answered the questionnaires. The study was conducted in three stages: the self-questionnaire, the neurological evaluation, and the psychiatric evaluation. In the first stage, the subjects completed a questionnaire to assess migraine symptoms and completed the three-item Identification of Migraine Questionnaire, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, and the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian Version Scale. The subjects who reported having a migraine underwent a detailed neurological evaluation conducted by a neurologist to confirm the diagnosis. In the final stage, the subjects with a migraine completed a psychiatric examination using the structured clinical interview for DSM-IV-R Axis I. The actual prevalence of migraine among these medical students was 12.6 %. The students with a migraine were diagnosed with alexithymia and post-traumatic stress disorder more frequently than those without migraine. The Migraine Disability Assessment Scale scores correlated with the post-traumatic stress disorder scores. The results of this study indicate that migraine was highly prevalent among medical students in Turkey and was associated with the alexithymic personality trait and comorbid psychiatric disorders including post-traumatic stress disorder. Treatment strategies must be developed to manage these comorbidities.

Test anxiety prevalance and related variables in the students who are going to take the university entrance examinationObjective: Test anxiety is common among students and has adverse effects on their exam performance. This study firstly focused on finding the prevalence of test anxiety. The second aim was to identify the predictors of test anxiety and its related variables among students who are going to take the university entrance exam.Method: Totally 436 students (girls=220, boys=216) who were randomly recruited from four different schools to represent all the students who will take the University Entrance Examination in Sivas city centre participated in the study. The students filled in the Socio-demographic Data Form sociodemographic form, Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI), Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS) and Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS).Results: Test anxiety was detected in the 48.0% of students (n=208). Additionally, exam anxiety was found in 40.3% of the males (n=87) and in 55.8% of the girls (n=121) and the difference between them was statistically significant (p<0.001). There was a statistically significant relation between test anxiety and WURS, ASRS, STAI-II (Trait anxiety), LSAS anxiety, BDI scores. The symptoms of depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), social anxiety avoidant behavior, and the state of taking additional courses were found as the independence factors that affect the exam anxiety. A lifetime rate of suicide attempts were significantly more in those with exam anxiety. There was a relationship between test anxiety and the time spent for internet.Conclusion: Approximately half of the students taking the university entrance exams feel a high level of test anxiety. It may be useful for the test anxiety prevention programs to include the screening and treatment of ADHD, depression and social anxiety. Sonuç: Üniversite sınavlarına giren öğrencilerin yaklaşık yarısında yüksek düzeyde sınav kaygısı vardır. Sınav kaygısını önleme programlarının, DEHB, depresyon ve sosyal kaygının araştırılmasını ve tedavi edilmesini içermesi yararlı olabilir.Anahtar kelimeler: DEHB, depresyon, sosyal anksiyete, sınav kaygısı

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The purpose of this study was to determine the discriminative factors between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with and without major depression (MD). We assessed subjective sleep quality, pain, and cell-mediated immune functions in RA patients with (n = 20) and without (n = 20) MD by using Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), visual analogue scale (VAS), and fluorescein isothiocyanat (FITC) labeled CD3, CD4, CD8, CDI9, CD45, CD56, and HLADR T monoclonal antibodies by flow cytometry. We found that the RA patients with MD had significantly higher pain level, poorer sleep equality, higher HDRS points, and higher HLADR T cell level than those without MD; and that these variables are discriminant factors between patient groups. These findings suggest that the RA patients with MD may be differentiated from those without MD by using VAS, PSQI, and HLADR levels; that these variables correctly classify the depressed and non depressed groups up to an accuracy level of 96.8%.

BackroundThe aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of migraine and associated psychiatric disorders among university students at Cumhuriyet University of Sivas in Turkey.MethodsA total of 1601 university students participated in this study and answered the questionnaires. The study was conducted in three stages: the self-questionnaire, the neurological evaluation, and the psychiatric evaluation. In the first stage, the subjects completed a questionnaire to assess migraine symptoms. In the second stage, the subjects who reported having migraines underwent a detailed neurological evaluation conducted by a neurologist to confirm the diagnosis. In the final stage, the subjects with migraines completed a psychiatric examination using the structured clinical interview for DSM IV-R Axis I.ResultsThe self-reported migraine prevalence rate was 13.7%, and the actual prevalence rate of migraine among the university students was calculated to be 10.6% (n = 169). When the results obtained with the SCID-I were examined, a current SCID-I psychiatric diagnosis was found in 39 (23.1%) of the 169 subjects with migraines. A total of 73 (43.2%) students with migraines had a lifetime SCID-I psychiatric diagnosis.ConclusionsThe results of this study indicate that migraines were highly prevalent among university students in Turkey with comorbid psychiatric disorders. Treatment strategies must be developed to manage these comorbidities.