SYMPOSIA

Bulletin of Clinical Psychopharmacology, Vol: 21, Supplement: 2, 2011 - www.psikofarmakoloji.org
Poster Presentations
Nine of the twenty-eight (32%) patients continued to be on antidepressants even after resolution of the depressive episode.
The compliance of monitoring for physical side effects during the initial period of starting medications was not satisfactory with only:
19/24 (79%) monitored for renal disease,
18/24 (75%) monitored for diabetes,
15/24 (63%) monitored and advised about obesity and
15/24 (63%) drug levels checked regularly.
In 4/28 (15%), there was no documentation about any physical health monitoring.
Only in 50-60% of patients had the monitoring been done annually, but it was regardless of any recognised guidelines.
In 19/26 (73%) the patient’s preference of drug choices was recorded.
In 21/28 (75%) patients, there was documentation about discussion of potential benefits and side effects of the medications.
Five of twenty-eight (18%) patients who were prescribed valproate were of child bearing age; 4 were advised to use contraception and
one had been sterilized.
Clinical implications: Monitoring cognitive function tests is often dependent on patient mental health, illness, age, and lack of side
effects.
Patient preference for drugs should be taken into consideration.
Evidence should be documented regarding clinical need or history of risk on antidepressant medication.
Evidence of long term treatment with antidepressants after resolution of a depressive episode should be documented in the patient
notes.
Annual check-ups of parameters should be documented by either the GP or Mental Health Team. However, weight and BP machines may
not be available at clinic appointments. There is a need for closer understanding among clinicians about the responsibility for initiation
and maintenance of close physical monitoring.
Discussions should be held with women of child bearing age regarding contraception.
Teams to monitor the need for referral to specialist Bipolar Units should be available, regardless of any cost implications.
Key words: Bipolar, mood disorder, mood stabiliser, antipsychotics, physical health monitoring, serum drug levels, cognitive side effects, relapse,
pregnant women
Bulletin of Clinical Psychopharmacology 2011;21(Suppl. 2):S148-9
[PP-048] Ref. No: 186
Assessment of risk of absenteeism in elemantary school students
Kültegin Ögel 1 , Gülşah Karadayı 2 , Zeynep Karaman 3 , Hediye Atıcı Arıcan 3 , Niyazi Kaya 3 , Uğur Karaman 3 , Ahmet Murat Altuğ 3
1Acibadem University Medical Faculty
2Yeniden Society
3Ministry of National Education Primary School Department
E-mail: ogelk@ogelk.net
Finding a resolution to the absenteeism problem is important in terms of children’s development. It is necessary that the risk of
absenteeism is determined in an early stage and an early warning system is established to prevent absenteeism. For this reason,
development of an assessment tool was targeted.
Methods: A qualitative research design was carried out at the first stage of the study. During this research procedure, 97 teachers, 53
administrators, 73 elementary school students who hadleft school, and 76 of their parents who were selected to represent the overall
structure of the population in Turkey were included in the study. With the information retrieved from this research, a scale named the Risk
Assessment Form (RIDEF) was developed. RIDEF consists of 111 questions within 9 risk categories.
The second stage of the study was carried out with 3871 students studying in 21 schools from 5 different cities, which were selected at
the first stage. While 49.5% (n=1924) of the students were between the ages of 7 and 12, 48% (n=1859) of the students were between 13
to 16 years of age. The mean age was 12.27±1.87 years. The mean of days of unexcused absences of those students within the 2009-2010
academic year, during which time this research was implemented, was 6.62±8.93 days and the mean of days of their unexcused absences
the year before was 6.08±7.21 days.
At the second stage, the RIDEF was applied to the same students 15 days after the first application and also a different interviewer filled
the form for half of the students. The School Atmosphere Scale was applied during the study, as well.
Results: When the total score derived from the scale was compared with the Pearson correlation analysis the interrater reliability was
found as r= 0.96 (p