Background: Prescribing medications is one of the most common medical decisions that is made by primary care providers (PCPs). In the Republic of Croatia, PCPs hold a key position in prescribing and evaluating the medications that are provided for patients. Accordingly, providing advice for patients regarding the potential adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and drug-drug interactions (DDIs) is frequently the responsibility of the PCPs. The aim of the current study was to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and counseling practices of PCPs regarding drug interactions and adverse effects. Methods: After enrolling 195 PCPs that were selected at random, a survey was conducted while using an anonymous questionnaire that was created based on previously published studies, adjusted in a way that includes the most commonly prescribed medications in Croatia. Results: Of the 10 questions on knowledge about DDIs and ADRs, the median number of correct responses by PCPs was 5 (interquartile range 4 to 7). More than half of respondents (56%) agreed with the claim that knowledge of drug side effects facilitated their work in family medicine. Almost all of the respondents (92.8%) explained side effects and drug interactions to special groups of patients (pregnant women, elderly patients etc.). Conclusion: The results show a need for additional education in the field of drug prescribing. However, PCPs were aware of the importance of counseling practices about adverse drug reactions and interactions and counseling practices among special patients populations are satisfactory.

IntroductionIn child and adolescent psychiatry antipsychotics are used in large and increasing quantities for a wide range of disorders and psychopathology, including psychotic, mood and disruptive behaviour disorders.The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has approved Paliperidone for the treatment of schizophrenia in adolescents from 15 years old.ObjectiveTo present our clinical experience with Paliperidone in the treatment of psychotic symptoms and other psychopathological disorders in adolescents.AimsTo describe with data from clinical practice the potential usefulness of Paliperidone in adolescent disorders beyond Schizophrenia.MethodsFive patients from an outpatient child and adolescent mental health service, on treatment with Paliperidone during 2014, were selected as clinical illustration. Case reports describe personal and family history, clinical presentation, management and treatment, course and outcome, with especial focus in treatment tolerance.ResultsWe present 3 males and 2 females, age between 15 and 17 years. Diagnoses were: autism, borderline personality disorder, schizotypal personality disorder, personality disorder not otherwise specified and schizophrenia. Prescribed dose was 3-9 mg/day, and actual mean time of treatment duration is 5,8 months. In 4 cases Paliperidone was initiated as a change from other antipsychotic. There were no adverse effects that required discontinuation and in all cases symptoms improved.ConclusionOur clinical experience evidences that Paliperidone is a valuable therapeutic option on behalf of its effectiveness and tolerance.In our practice the symptoms that respond better to Paliperidone are: hallucinations, reference ideation, irritability, aggression, disorganized behaviour and stereotypies.

Background: Main features of antisocial personality disorder (APD) are aggression, tendency to violence, poor frustration tolerance, impulsivity, difficulties in learning from experiences. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterized with difficulty to sustain attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. Association between ADHD and violent behavior is well known. Childhood onset ADHD carries a high risk of persisting into adulthood as antisocial behaviors. Aim: In the present study, comorbidity of adult ADHD was screened in a group of patients with APD. Executive functions and attention were assessed by using neuropsychological test instruments. In addition, their relation to ADHD subtypes was investigated. Methods: A total of 90 male subjects with APD were included. Also, 90 age-and sex-matched healthy control subjects were involved into the study. The patients and control subjects were assessed by a semi-structured socio-demographic form, SCID-II, Turgay's Adult ADHD Rating Scale, Wender Utah Rating Scale, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Stroop Test, Continuous Performance Test, and Trail-Making Test. Results: Comorbidity rate of adult ADHD was 83.3% in APD group while 6.7% of control subjects had a diagnosis of adult ADHD. The most frequently diagnosed ADHD subgroup was combined type in both APD and control group. In APD group, executive functions were significantly more deficient as compared to the control group. Among all ADHD subgroups, inattention subtype had the worst performance in neuropsychological assessments. Conclusion: Comorbidity of adult ADHD was quite common in APD subjects. Executive functions were generally deficient in APD patients with a co-diagnosis of adult ADHD.

IntroductionAutistic disorder (AD) is a neuropsychiatric disorder that often presents significant disruptive symptoms such as irritability, aggression and self-injury in addition to impairment of social skills and communication. These symptoms interfere both individuals with AD and their families and social environment.ObjectiveShow paliperidone effect in behavioural symptoms in AD.MethodsLiterature review about behavioural symptoms in AD and paliperidone effect in its treatment, followed by a case report of clinical improvement after treatment with paliperidone in a patient with autism. Agitation subscale Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC-I) scores was compared prior and 4 weeks after paliperidone treatment, and clinical improvement was assessed with Clinical Global Impression-Improvement Scale (CGI-I).ResultsAlthough risperidone has been one of the most studied atypical antipsychotic to treat this symptoms, its use should be limited in order to avoid extrapyramidal and metabolic symptoms. Paliperidone – the major metabolite of risperidone – has shown effectiveness in the treatment of behavioral symptoms in patients with autism, even in subjects with a prior ineffective trial of risperidone. Our patient, 21-years-old male with AD and significant disruptive symptoms was treated with paliperidone 9 mg/day. We observed a 20-points reduction in ABC-I scores 4 weeks later, with most significant improvement in items like auto-agression, heteroaggressivity, irritability and slams. CGI-I scores showed a much better improvement, and no significant adverse effects appeared.ConclusionsPaliperidone is an effective and safe treatment in behavioral symptoms associated to AD, with reduction in ABC-I subscale scores. More studies are needed to confirm our data.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

IntroductionAnorexia nervosa is a disorder of eating behavior that is a major health problem on our society. It is characterized by three main criteria: self-induced starvation, desire for thinness or fear of obesity, and the presence of medical signs and symptoms due to improper feeding. This work is focused on its treatment. The biopsychosocial approach allows the design and application of effective therapeutic strategies and a multidisciplinary team collaboration is essential.ObjectivesResearch of current pharmacological and psychotherapy treatments options of the disease.Material and methodsLiterature review based on articles and publications on this topic.ResultsIn anorexia nervosa, it is necessary to establish a therapeutic alliance between doctor and patient. Patient usually feels no motivation to improve. The different treatments options to combine, in terms of the patient status, are: nutritional rehabilitation, cognitive-behavioral, family and interpersonal psychotherapies and pharmacological treatment. It can be carried out at the ambulatory, at the day-hospital or by medical stay, even beyond patient will.ConclusionsNowadays, the nutritional rehabilitation is the best treatment established and it is the core treatment. About the psychotherapies, the cognitive-behavioral is the most used because it has exposed better results in all different studies proved and in clinical practices, followed by the family therapy which is the responsible of the patient family's treatment. Pharmacological treatment should not be used systematically and its exclusive use is not enough to resolve anorexia nervosa as there are needed also other treatments combined.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.