Prevalence Of Anxiety And Depression Among Doctors Working In A Private Hospital In Pakistan

Objectives: Anxiety and depression among doctors may negatively affect quality of patient care, patient safety, and professionalism. Despite the potentially serious personal and professional consequences of depression, there are very limited researches done on depression among Pakistani doctors. Therefore this study was aimed to determine the prevalence of anxiety and depression among doctors in a private teaching hospital in Pakistan. Method: This was a cross-sectional survey conducted in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Pakistan. The Self-Reporting Questionnaire for Anxiety and Depression (SRQ 20) Scale was administered to a sample of 300 medical doctors. Chi-square test and multiple regressions were used for data analysis. Results: Anxiety and Depression among doctors was measured to be 27.3 % (95% CI: 22.3, 32.4) in our study. Conclusion: More than one quarter of our doctors are suffering from anxiety and depression but this subject is fairly neglected in Pakistan and more studies should be conducted to collect more validated information on this matter.

Evaluation of a microcolony detection method and phage assay for rapid detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in sputum samples.

Early and rapid diagnosis of tuberculosis is necessary for both treatment and control of the disease. This study evaluated two microcolony observation techniques based on liquid and solid media and a mycobacteriophage assay, to evaluate their effectiveness in the diagnosis of pulmonary TB compared with a standard culture (BACTEC 460 and LJ medium). Middlebrook7H9 (M7H9) broth based on microcolony determination detected 57/61 positives cultures (n = 200) with a sensitivity of 93.4% and a specificity of 87.1%. M7H11 agar detected 57/62 positive cultures (n = 198) with a sensitivity of 91.9% and a specificity of 89.7%. The mycobacteriophage assay detected 98/143 (68.5%) of positive samples. The time to positivity was 48 hours in the mycobacteriophage assay versus 7 days in both the M7H9 broth and M7H11 agar. The costs in comparison with the culture (BACTEC 460 and LJ) were 33% and 48% for the microcolony and mycobacteriophage methods, respectively. Microcolony methods were rapid and cost effective compared to standard cultures. The mycobacteriophage assay, despite its lower sensitivity, has a short turn around time, and may be recommended as a screening test in countries with a low prevalence of tuberculosis.

Pattern of health care utilization and determinants of care-seeking from GPs in two districts of Pakistan.

The aims of the study were to describe the pattern of health care utilization and out-of-pocket expenses incurred in seeking health care, and to identify the determinants of care-seeking from private general practitioners (GP) in two districts of Pakistan. During July-September 2001, we conducted a cross-sectional study in two districts in the Sindh Province of Pakistan. We selected 1,150 participants age > or = 3 months through a two-stage cluster sampling technique. Information was collected about contacts with healthcare providers during the past three months, presenting complaints, type of treatment received, and cost of the latest visit. Of 1,150 participants, 967 (84%) had at least one contact with health care providers during past three months. The mean number of contacts was 1.7. Most of the contacts (66.8%) were with private GPs. The average cost per visit was Pak Rs 106 (US dollar 1.7) and Rs 38 (US dollar 0.6) for GPs and public sector providers, respectively. A multiple logistic regression model revealed those living in urban areas, with monthly household income > Rs 2,500 (US dollar 39.7), an education level > 5 years, and who received both injections and oral drugs were more likely to visit private general practitioners.