Adherence to medications in a group of Bahraini and Egyptian patients with bipolar mood disorder

The aim of this study was to identify predictors of non-adherence to medications in a group of bipolar mood disorder patients as well as the trans-cultural differences in non-adherence among them. Participants were 51 Bahraini and 53 Egyptians patients with bipolar mood disorder who had been prescribed medications within the past 12 months. Treatment adherence was evaluated by self-report of these patients. There was a distinction between intentional non-adherence [e.g., alteration of medication regimen to fit one's needs] and unintentional non-adherence than developing manic episodes for getfuiness]. No cultural group differences in intentional non-adherence were suggested. Egyptian patients reported significantly more unintentional non-adherence than Bahraini patients. however, once other predictors were entered into the model, cultural difference did not remain a significant predictor. After controlling for cultural factor and medication type, intentional non-adherence was associated with perceiving medication as less important, concerns about the side effects of medications and the stigma associated with medications. Unintentional non-adherence was associated with co-morbidity of drug abuse and development of manic episodes. results suggest no cultural difference in terms of barriers to adherence to medications. Interventions to increase adherence the bipolar patients. Drug education and information about the illness and its co-morbidity with drug abuse might help the patients and families

prevalence of depression in adult hospitalized patients in internal and surgical wards of Al Zahra University Hospital

Depression is a common, disturbing concomitant of medical conditions. The reported prevalence of major depressive episodes in physically ill patients varies from 5% to more than 40%. However, because depression is often unrecognized and under treated in sick patients, the prevalence reported in most studies is probably an underestimate. The subjects about 80 patients were selected from the inpatient admitted in internal and surgical departments of Al-zhra hospital of Al-Azhar University. The results of patients were classified into two groups, group A patients in surgical department and group B patients in department of internal medicine. Each group comprised 40 patients. Mean age of group A is 28.50+ 8.30 yr and that of group B is 39.40+13.11 yr. All patients subjected to: Psychological and social assessment: Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression [HDS]. For assessing depression, Clinical assessment: Psychiatric assessment using a semistructured interview full. Detailed Life events questionnaire. We estimated the prevalence of depression in 80 medical and surgical inpatients. results of this study revealed that depression presented in about 28 patients who was admitted to surgical department of Al Zahra general hospital all of them above 40 years old and duration of illness more than 6 months. While patients of group B showed depressive disorder in about 32 patients of 40 patients who admitted in department of general medicine in the same hospital. Prevalence of depression in hospitalized patients admitted in internal ward is grate. The high levels of depression detected in this sample suggests that screening for psychological co-morbidity is important in rehabilitation settings and should be included in the clinical interview carried out by the doctors at the duration of admission to the ward. Accurate diagnosis of co-morbid depressive disorders in patients who admitted in medical care services is essential in understanding the cause and in optimizing the management of somatic symptom burden

Nicotine reliance in schizophrenic and bipolar disorder patients: a comparative study

We aimed to determine the prevalence of smoking and the severity of nicotine reliance in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and find the relationship between smoking status and some sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. A sample of consecutive admissions of all patients with schizophrenia [n=70] and bipolar disorder [n=46] admitted to psychiatric units of a private hospital over a period of three months was recruited. Patients were diagnosed according to DSM-IV. Demographic and clinical data were collected. The total sample [n=116, male 75.9%] was assessed as regards the cigarette smoking status and the age of initiation of smoking. For the smokers, the severity of nicotine reliance was assessed using the Fagerstrom tolerance scale. A control group [n30] smokers, who were age and sex matched with the case smokers, were assessed for the severity of nicotine dependence. 58.6% of patients with schizophrenia were smokers [60% of them were dependent] compared to 32.6% of patients with bipolar disorder 938.5% were dependent]. In the total case sample, smokers differed significantly from non smokers as regards the diagnosis, sex and history of substance abuse and their age of initiation of smoking correlated with the age of onset of the disorder. 83.6% of cases that were current smokers initiated smoking at or before the onset of the disorder [72.7% before]. Schizophrenia smokers initiated smoking significantly earlier than control smokers denoting severer nicotine reliance but there were no significant difference between schizophrenia and bipolar smokers on the scale score. Nicrotine reliance is higher in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder compared to normal controls. Factors that is higher in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder compared to normal controls. Factors that influence cigarette smoking in psychiatric patients include diagnosis, sex and history of substance abuse. Age of initiation of smoking may be related to the onset of the disorder

Measurement psychiatric stigma in a general hospital in Saudi Arabia

The aim of this study is to measure the stigma of psychiatric illness in a general hospital setting, and to test the connection between common ideas people have of patients with psychiatric illness [personal responsibility, and dangerousness], and the generation of discriminatory behavior. A cross-sectional survey was carried out in all the hospital staff of king Abdulaziz Hospital in Al-Ashsa, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Questionnaire was distributed on the 1[st] of February, and the study was finished on the 12[th] of March 2008. The sample size of 860 staff members was included for the study. Hospital staff had high scores [6.8/9] for caring attitude for patients with psychiatric illness. They had medium scores for fear [4/9], avoidance [4.8/9], and dangerousness [4.3/9]. They had low scores [3.1/9] for anger feelings toward these patients. Discriminatory behavior was found to be the result of feeling that these patients are dangerous, but not because they were held responsible for their illness. Our staff had a caring attitude towards patients with psychiatric illness. The idea that the patients with psychiatric illness are to blame for their illness did not hold, while the idea that these patients are dangerous showed positive relationship with discriminatory behavior

Distress among cancer in patients at Institute of oncology - Cairo University Hospital

Based on evidence that psychological distress often goes unrecognized although it is common among cancer patients, clinical practice guidelines recommend routine screening for distress. The epidemiological pilot study, aims at exploring and examining the quality and quantity of distress associated with cancer inpatients in institute of oncology Cairo University Hospitals. we used a modified version of the distress thermometer [DT] developed by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network to examine the nature of distress in 100 inpatients. Showed that as much as 80% of our patients are suffering significant distresses more than five on the thermometer, major components are anxiety, fear, pain, depression, sadness and fatigue. Our results suggest that DT be considered such a useful and applicable tool for measuring psychological distress in cancer patients and to detect psychiatric disorders through a screening procedure