Past Issues

Objectives:The objectives of this study were to investigate the psychiatric and cognitive symptoms as well as and psychiatric comorbidity in Taiwanese patients with Machado–Joseph disease (MJD). Methods:Fourteen patients with genetically confirmed Machado-Joseph disease and eight sex- and age-matched healthy volunteers were recruited. A board-certified psychiatrist conducted structured diagnostic interview. The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale was as-sessed by clinical psychologists. Both groups received assessment with Symp-toms Checklist (SCL-90-R) and Zung’s Depression Scale and GHQ/QL-12. Results: Nine of 14 MJD patients (64.3%), had depressive or anxiety disorders. MJD patients showed significant severity of psychiatric symptoms including somatization (p < 0.05), obsession (p < 0.001), depression (p < 0.05), phobia (p < 0.05), hostility (p < 0.01), paranoia (p < 0.01) and psychotism (p < 0.01). They showed significantly lower scores in verbal (p < 0.05), performance (p < 0.001), and full IQ test (p < 0.01). The life quality was also significantly poorer in pa-tients with MJD compared to normal control (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The Taiwanese patients with MJD have more psychiatric and cognitive disturbance than controls. The disturbances influence their life quality. This condition needs more attention and treatment.