study of demographic factors and symptoms of conversion disorder in an outpatient population in Pakistan

The aim of this study was to examine the demographic profile and symptoms of patients presenting with conversion disorder for the first time in tertiary care health facility. All fresh patients with conversion disorder presenting in 5 major hospitals of Lahore, Pakistan fulfilling the diagnostic criterion of DSM-IV from 20 December 2003 till 20 June 2004 were included in the study. Their demographic profile and symptoms were assessed in detail in the form of a semi structured interview. Out of a total sample of 248, females comprised 87.5%; mean age was 23.65 years and the most frequently reported education level was 10 years of schooling or less [65.8%]. The most commonly reported monthly income was Rs 10000 and below [83.1%], while 79.4% participants belonged to urban areas. 58.9% of the patients were unmarried. Marriage related problems [19.4%] were reported as the commonest stress factor while mixed presentation [62.1%] was the most frequent clinical presentation

Patterns of substance abuse among schizophrenics

An association between substance abuse schizophrenia is increasingly well recognized. The purpose of this study was to undertake a comparative analysis of patterns of substance abuse among schizophrenics. 80 patients with schizophrenia [58 males and 22 females] with mean age of 31.4 years were administered a questionnaire for a detailed assessment of comobrid substance abuse. 53.7% in the sample abused drugs the sample was divided into three groups. Group 1 comprised of 34 schizophrenics with nicotine abuse, group II consisted of 9 schizophrenics with and abuse of another drug and group III was the control group with 37 patients. all the patients in group II abused nicotine and 66.6% in the same group abused cannabis. The mode of intake in the whole drug sample was smoking. The average daily intake of nicotine in group 1 and 2 came out to be 20.8 cigarettes and 17.2 cigarettes respectively. 20.5% in group I, 55.5% in group II and 37.8% in group III reported family history of psychiatric illness. 67.6% in group I and 66.6% in group II purchased the drug from market. These findings point towards the need of an effective integration of psychiatric and drug treatment services