ABSTRACT
Background: Around 2/3rd of patients with schizophrenia do not receive long-term appropriate treatment and have 2-3 times higher risk of early death. There are several factors which affects medication adherence especially during covid period. Our aim was to estimate the prevalence and factors affecting medication non-adherence in patients with schizophrenia during the period of covid pandemic. Materials and methods: It was a cross-sectional observational study done in 82 patients with schizophrenia. Socio-demographic and clinical details were collected. Details pertaining to medication non-adherence during covid were collected using semi-structured proforma. Medication adherence was assessed using Morisky Medication Adherence Scale 4 (MMAS 4) and treatment compliance in last 6 months was collected from patient case records. Results: Our study showed 63% patients with medication non-adherence. Patients from semi-urban and rural background, with residence far from psychiatric facility and non-availability of transport were found to be at more risk of developing medication non-adherence, which were considered as economical factors related to non-adherence. Conclusion: 63% of patients had increased medication non-adherence during covid period. Our findings underline the fact that treatment non-adherence maybe further affected by economy related factors during covid period.
ABSTRACT
Background: Emotional regulation plays crucial part in overall psychological well-being of an individual as it impacts how he responds to stimuli. Evidences from past suggest that there are differences in emotional regulation strategies based on gender in patients suffering from different illnesses. However there is limited literature on emotional regulation strategies in general population. Material and methods: This was a cross sectional study conducted at a tertiary care centre on 60 subjects comprised of both genders, with no psychiatric or physical co-morbidity at present or in past. Emotional regulation among both genders was studied using Difficulties in Emotional Regulation Scale (DERS). Results: There was no significant difference in the socio-demographics of male and female participant groups. Among both gender, males had significantly higher difficulties in acceptance of emotions (P=0.035) and impulse dyscontrol (P=0.014) when compared to women. However, women had significantly lesser emotional clarity compared to men (P=0.003). Conclusion: These differences in emotional regulation strategies may be responsible for differences in clinical presentation and prevalence of various psychiatric illnesses among the gender group. Knowledge about emotional regulation strategies among both genders would help initiate gender specific interventions to avoid maladaptive behaviors and to prevent the onset or progression of illness.