[Mental illness stigma in city of Tehran, 2009]

The stigma associated with mental illness adds to the public health burden of mental illness itself. In general terms stigma is the status loss and discrimination triggered by negative stereotypes. To our knowledge, this is not any large scale study of knowledge of and attitudes towards mental illness in Iran. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the knowledge and attitude of a community sample towards mental illness in city of Tehran. This cross-sectional study was conducted in city of Tehran between April and December 2009. By a multistage random sampling of household respondents, 800 subjects were recruited in the study. A modified version of the questionnaire developed for the "World Psychiatric Association Program to Reduce Stigma and Discrimination" was used. The method of collecting data was interview by trained interviewers. We used SPSS V.13 software for describing and analyzing data. Chi-square was used for subgroup analyses. The mean age of sample was 37.5 years [14.7 yrs] with 53.3% being males. Most of them [70%] mentioned that mental illness is treatable out of hospital and 74% of them believed patients with mental illness could have ordinary jobs. About 68% had a positive attitude towards friendly relationship with mental illness patients. About 52.5% of the subjects believed that people with mental illness are dangerous because of their violent behaviors. Only 17% of subjects were afraid of having conversation with a mentally ill person. Generally, socio-demographic variables were not associated with knowledge and attitudes of peoples towards mental illness strongly. There is not extensive stigmatization of mental illness in our sample. Compared to other similar studies, the views and attitudes of our sample towards mental illness were partially good and acceptable

[Validation of geriatric depression scale [GDS-15] in Iran]

Depressive disorders are quite prevalent among the old population of developed countries, therefore, validated scaling systems are necessary for screening purpose. The present study was designed to develop and validate GDS-15 in Iran. The Persian version was prepared using translation, reverse translation and comparing technique. Then, 204 adults aged >59 years were randomly selected to fill the questionnaire. Standard Clinical Interview using Composite International Diagnostic Interview [CIDI] was applied as the gold standard for depressive disorders diagnosis. Results revealed satisfactory reliability coefficient. Depression-associated factor [including 11 questions] could be considered as a brief form with alpha and correlation coefficient of 0.92 and 0.58 with the original form [p<0.001]. Having applied ROC analysis, cut off points of 8 and 6 were determined for 15- and 11-question forms, respectively, with sensitivities of 0.9 and 0.9 and specificities of 0.84 and 0.83, respectively. Our results revealed that 11- and 15-question forms of GDS are quite reliable and valid for epidemiological and screening studies, especially among urban population

Memory problem in checking type obsessive- compulsive disorder

The objective of this research was to determine memory problems [episodic memory, memory bias and memory confidence] in checking type obsessive-compulsive disorder [OCD]. Sixty individuals with OCD [30 checking and 30 washing types] were selected, together with 60 control individuals[30 with generalized anxiety disorder and 30 normal]. The groups matched the checking OCD group in demographic features and were assessed for obsession and compulsion by the Maudsly Obsessive - Compulsive Inventory [MOCI] and diagnostic interview. Memory was assessed by two computer-based word lists [recalling list and recognition/confidence list]. This study revealed no difference in the amount of recalling words among the groups. Checking OCD, washing OCD and generalized anxiety groups showed memory bias in recalling danger associated words. The checkers had significantly less memory confidence than any other groups. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings were also considered. The memory problem in the checking type OCD could be described in the framework of psychological theories, particularly, with a cognitive-behavioral approach