Browsing by Author "Kaminer, D."

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    Assessing post-traumatic stress disorder in South African adolescents : using the child and adolescent trauma survey (CATS) as a screening tool
    (BioMed Central, 2005-01) Suliman, S.; Kaminer, D.; Seedat, S.; Stein, D. J.
    Background: Several studies have demonstrated that South African children and adolescents are exposed to high levels of violent trauma with a significant proportion developing PTSD, however, limited resources make it difficult to accurately identify traumatized children. Methods: A clinical interview (K-SADS-PL, selected modules) and self-report scale (CATS) were compared to determine if these different methods of assessment elicit similar information with regards to trauma exposure and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adolescents. Youth (n = 58) from 2 schools in Cape Town, South Africa participated. Results: 91% of youth reported having been exposed to a traumatic event on self-report (CATS) and 38% reported symptoms severe enough to be classified as PTSD. On interview (K-SADS-PL), 86% reported exposure to a traumatic event and 19% were found to have PTSD. While there were significant differences in the rates of trauma exposure and PTSD on the K-SADS and CATS, a cutoff value of 15 on the CATS maximized both the number of true positives and true negatives with PTSD. The CATS also differentiated well between adolescents meeting DSM-IV PTSD symptom criteria from adolescents not meeting criteria. Conclusions: Our results indicate that trauma exposure and PTSD are prevalent in South African youth and if appropriate cut-offs are used, self-report scales may be useful screening tools for PTSD.
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    D8/17 in obsessive-compulsive disorder and trichotillomania
    (Health & Medical Publishing Group, 1999) Niehaus, D. J. H.; Knowles, J. A.; Van Kradenberg, J.; Du Toit, W. D.; Kaminer, D.; Seedat, S.; Daniels, W.; Cotton, M.; Brink, P.; Beyers, A. D.; Bouic, P.; Chapman, F.; Zabriskie, J. B.; Stein, D. J.
    The finding that patients with Sydenham's chorea often demonstrate obsessive-compulsive disorder (OeD) has fostered increased interest in possible neuroimmunological mechanisms in OCD.' Increased expression of the B-Iymphocyte antigen 08/17, which has been hypothesised to be a genetically inherited trait marker for susceptibility to rheumatic fever, has recently been demonstrated to be higher in OCD patients than in normal controls.2.3 To date, however, 08/17 expression has been studied in few psychiatric control populations.