Epidemiology, risk factors and tumor profiles of breast cancer in Bangladeshi underprivileged women

Similar to cancer statistics in developed countries, breast cancer is also the leading cause of cancer-related death in the women population of Bangladesh particularly the poor and underprivileged. The objective of this study was to study the socio-demography, tumor patterns and risk factors that affect these women from Dhaka and Bangladesh in general. This cross-sectional study involved 250 patients who presented to NICRH, Dhaka for treatment. These patients were interviewed, physically examined and vital information were gathered using approved questionnaires. Various personal, social, reproductive and tumor related factors were recorded and analyzed. The mean age of the study group was 44.7 years, standard deviation [SD] was 9.82 [range: 21-67], 87% have children, 57.2% were postmenopausal, 92% were housewives, 51.4% were illiterate, 62% attended 6 months after initiation of symptoms, 72% of the patients' yearly family income were less than US[dollar sign]1000/year. Almost 100% of the patients gave history of cooking from wooden fire source in the rural areas. In our study group, 79.7 percent women were within the group of BMI 20 kg/m[2]or more. Locally advanced breast cancer patients [T3 and T4] were 52.6%, axillary lymph node involvement was present in 80% of cases, 61.6 % patient received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. In the elderly group [>40 years] Estrogen receptor was positive in 53.2% cases, 26.6% were Triple negative breast cancer patients. Women with poor socio-economic status and have none or low educational level are often victims of late presentation and tend to have a higher stage at diagnosis. Poverty, literacy and assorted risk factors have influenced the outcome of breast cancer cases among Bangladeshi women

Identification of relationship of self image with anxiety and depression among college girls of Lahore, Pakistan

This study aims to identify the relationship of self image with anxiety and depression among college girls of Lahore, Pakistan. A Correlation Research Design. Lahore City, during September 2008 to March 2009. Through purposive sampling, 875 college girls were participated in this study. Offer's Self Image Questionnaire [OSIQ] was used to assess the level of self image and Symptom Check List Revised to assess both anxiety and depression. All the data was collected in groups and Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was computed to analyze the results. Results showed that out of a total of eleven subscales of OSIQ there was a strong positive correlation of both anxiety and depression on five subscales: Morals [S5]; Family Relationships [S7] Mastery of External World [S8]; Emotional Health [S10]; Superior Adjustment [Sll]. However, there was a negative relationship of both anxiety and depression with three subscales: Impulse Control [SI]; Emotional Tone [S2]; Body Image [S3], while Social Relationships [S4] found to be negatively related only with anxiety. Moreover, there was no significant relationship of Vocational/ Educational goals [S9] and Idealism [SI 2] with anxiety and depression. In the light of the present findings, preventive educational programs can be designed and introduced in the educational institutions stressing the importance of development of positive self image and focusing upon the development of positive mental health among females

Standardization of symptom checklist-R on psychiatric and non psychiatric sample of Lahore city

The present research was conducted to standardize Symptom Checklist-R on psychiatric and non psychiatric population of Lahore city. Lahore. The research consisted of two stages. At stage one, an indigenous Symptom Checklist developed by Rahman and Sitwat in 1990[1], was reviewed by the research team comprising of 4 trainees of Advanced Diploma in Clinical Psychology and I supervisor. After thorough review, 83 more symptoms were added in that indigenous list of symptoms according to DSM-IV[APA, 1994][2][to make the checklist more comprehensive to use with the psychiatric population. After finalizing the list, Symptom Checklist-R was administered on a sample of 120 subjects residing in different areas of Lahore city from different socioeconomic classes: lower; middle and upper. The analyses of each item revealed that no item /symptom obtained a mean value of more than 7 which clearly show that the non psychiatric respondents did not experience any of these symptoms which were related to different psychopathologies. To determine reliability of SCL-R, 120 subjects from non psychiatric population and 45 subjects from psychiatric population were re-administered the SCL-R within 7-10 days. For the validation of the checklist, 120 psychiatric subjects diagnosed as having different psychopathologies were administered SCL-R along with some other translated instrument. 30 depressed patients were administeredSCL-R and BDI-II[3]; 18 somatic patients were administered SCL-R and two scales: Hysteria and Somatic Anxiety of CCEI[4]; 30 anxiety patients were administered SCL-R and STAI[5], 20 OCD patients were administered SCL-R and Padua Inventory; 32 psychotic patients were administered SCL-R and PANSS[6] and all psychiatric patients were administered LFT scale of SCL-R along with LFT Inventory[7], The psychiatric sample was collected from each of the above mentioned pathologies from different psychiatric units of teaching hospitals: Sir Ganga Ram; Mayo; Services; Punjab Institute of Mental Health [PIMH], Lahore and from out patient clinic of Centre for Clinical Psychology, University of the Punjab, Lahore. The high correlation coefficients between the scores of SCL-R and scores on other instruments clearly indicate that SCL-R is a reliable and valid tool to diagnose psychiatric clients. After determining reliability and validity of SCL-R, the cut offs based on psychiatric and non psychiatric population -were developed separately to use the checklist to diagnose different psychopathologies

Level of frustration tolerance and its relationship with different psychopathologies

The present research focuses on the relationship between level of frustration tolerance and different psychopathologies: Depression; Somatoform; Anxiety; Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Schizophrenia. The research consisted of two stages. At stage one, the Low Frustration Inventory developed by Knaus [1983] was translated and adapted into Urdu language to use it with the Pakistani population. The LFT inventory was administered on a sample of 120 subjects residing in different areas of Lahore city from different socioeconomic strata which included low; middle and high. To find the reliability of LFT inventory, 60 subjects were re-administered the LFT inventory after 15 days. For the validation of the inventory, 120 subjects from the same areas were administered the LFT inventory along-with the Scale of LFT of Symptom Checklist-R [Rahman, Dawood, et al., In Press]. At stage two, the focus was to find the relationship between LFT and different psychopathologies: Depression; Somatoform; Anxiety; Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Schizophrenia. A sample of 30 subjects from each of the above mentioned pathologies was taken from different psychiatric units of teaching hospitals: Sir Ganga Ram; Mayo; Services; Punjab Institute of Mental Health [PIMH], Lahore and Centre for Clinical Psychology, University of the Punjab, Lahore. The psychopathology of each subject was assessed through Symptom Checklist-R and level of frustration tolerance was assessed through LFT inventory originally developed by Knaus in 1983, translated and adapted by Dawood and Rahman to use in present research. The results indicate a positive relationship of low frustration tolerance with each one of the above mentioned psychopathologies

Assessment of degradation of agricultural soils arising from brick burning in selected soil profiles

The study was conducted with the selected soil profile of burnt [soil around brick kilns] and unburnt [agricultural land] soils in the Dinaj'pur, Rangpur, Rajshahi, Khulna and Patuakhali districts at the western part of Bangladesh to evaluate the effects of brick kilns on soil degradation and environmental pollution. The pH values of the unburnt soils increased as a function of the soil depth for Rangpur, Khulna and Patuakhali, while decreased for the soil profiles in Dinajpur. Burning of soils significantly [p<0.05] decreased the average pH values of soils by 0.4 pH units [7% increased over average content = IOAC], but strikingly increased the average EC values from 0.26 to 1.77 mS/cm [592% IOAC] and the effect was pronounced with the depth function. The average sand content of the soil profiles increased by 330%, while the silt and clay contents decreased by 49 and 40%, respectively. The average losses arising from the burning of agricultural soils were amounted to 63% for organic matter, 56 to 86% and 23 to 88% for available and total N, P, K and S, respectively. This huge loss through the burning of 1 m deep soil profile, i.e. almost 3/4[th] of the deterioration of soil fertility is not only reducing the crop production but also polluting the associated environment and atmosphere. The burning of enormous C, N and S not only degrade the agricultural soils but also contributing to the changes in the global climate

Development of an indigenous scale for emotional intelligence based on goleman's model: a perspective of Pakistani clinical psychologists

The present study aimed to develop an indigenous scale of emotional intelligence while following the theoretical rationale of Goleman's model [1995], which consists of five main domains: Self Awareness; Self Regulation; Motivation; Empathy and Social Skills with 19 sub-domains. To develop an item pool for the scale, the qualified clinical psychologists of Pakistan [N=220] were requested to formulate questions on different sub domains of Goleman's model. It was done through a mailed survey, 38% responses were received from the sample. The researcher listed all the elicited opinions and classified items in each scale separately, which was later scrutinized by the research team, which included the researcher, supervisor and the co supervisor. Duplications were deleted and some of them were modified according to their relevance to the respective domain. Furthermore, from a pool of 925 items which was received, a total of 321 items were finally scrutinized and classified in different sub domains of each scale. The title of each sub-domain was also given by the research team after critically examining the domain and it's contents. For construct validity of the scale, the already selected 321 items were sent to a panel of '8' experts who had the practical experience of a minimum of 15 years in mental health profession, which included clinical psychologists who consented to participate as judges. They were asked to rate each item on a 1 to 5 point scale for it's relevance and suitability in each of the sub domains given by Goleman. The items which obtained a mean value of '3' were retained in the final scale

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

Identification of shyness in college women of Lahore, Pakistan

The present study identified shyness in college women of Lahore, Pakistan. A purposive sample of 3154 college women was collected from Fatima Jinnah College for Women, Lahore College for Women University, Garrison Post-Graduate College and Kinnaird College for Women. Submissive Behavior Scale [SBS; Allan and Gilbert, 1997], Shyness Questionnaire [SQ; Bortnik, Henderson, and Zimbardo, 2002] with a bio-data form was used for the survey. Descriptive statistics were calculated for the seven demographic variables. Almost 19% and 6% of the participants scored two standard deviations [SD] above the mean while 48% and 28.6% scored 1 SD above the mean of SBS and SQ, respectively. A significant Pearson Product Moment Coefficient of Correlation of. 69 was identified between SBS and SQ scores. The Chronbach alpha for SBS and SQ was .75 and .86 respectively. The relationship between shyness and demographic variables were discussed highlighting the role of culture

effects of diabetes oncatecholamine neurotransmitter mediating enzymedopamine-beta-hydroxylase and other biochemicalparameters in human serum

In Bangladesh weather, environment and pattern of life style are significantly different from those of other developed as well as developing countries. So this makes us curious to determine the serum Dopamine-p-Hydroxylase [DBH] activity, its cofactors and other biochemical parameters in Bangladeshi diabetic patients at different ages of both sexes to determine their changes with age. The study was done in six different age groups of both sexes namely Group I: 10-15 years, Group II: 15-25 years, Group III: 25-35 years, Group IV: 35-45 years, Group V: 45-55 years and Group VI: 55+ years. DBH activity was increased in Groups I, II and decreased in Group VI of both sexes. DBH activity was variable in all other groups. One of the cofactors, ascorbic acid was slightly decreased in all groups. Another cofactor copper was variable. Among the parameters of lipid profiles, only the triacylglycerol level increased in all groups. Other biochemical parameters were variable. From our studies, we concluded that diabetes affects the DBH activity, its cofactors and other biochemical parameters

Studies of neurotransmitter mediating enzyme dopamine-B-hdroxylase, its cofactors and other biochemical parameters in the serum of diabetic heart disease patients

Neurotransmitter mediating enzyme Dopamine-beta-Hydroxylase [DBH], its cofactors and other biochemical parameters such as glucose, protein, albumin serum electrolytes, enzyme profiles, lipid profiles, urea, creatinine etc. are studied at six different age groups of both sexes, namely group I [10-l5 years], group II [15-25 years], group III [25-35 years], group IV [35-45 years] group V [45-55 years] and group VI [55+ years] of diabetic heart disease patients in comparison with the age matched controls. One unit of DBH activity is expressed in nmole/min/ml serum. DBH activity decreased in both males and females in groups I, II, III, IV, V and VI. The values of DBH activity in males and females are: group I [19.95 units and 35.62 units], group II [21.42 units and 36.72 units], group III [26.48 units and 42.82 units], group IV [31.39 units and 51.53 units], group V [26.59 units and 17.95 units] and group VI [36.26 units and 41.53 units], respectively. One of the cofactors, ascorbic acid level slightly decreased in almost all groups. Another cofactor copper, increased in all groups. Triacylglycerol also increased in all the groups. HDL-cholesterol decreased in almost all the groups of both sexes, except in males of groups II, III and IV. Cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol were variabies. The cardiac enzymes such as CK-MB, GOT, LDH1 activity increased in all the groups. Other biochemical parameters such as protein, albumin, serum electrolytes, urea, creatinine, bilirubin etc. were increased in some groups and decreased in some groups, except urea, they were within their respective normal ranges

Urdu adaptation and standardization of irrational beliefs test on Pakistani population and development of norms for psychiatric, drug addict and normal populations

A strong need was felt to have a valid and a reliable assessment tool for Rational Emotive Therapy [RET] practitioners and researchers in Pakistan to assess irrational beliefs. In the present study, Jones's Irrational Belief Test [IBT], 1968, was indigenized in order to use it effectively with Pakistani population. The sample consisted of 44 psychiatric patients, 33 heroin addicts, 98 college students and 65 volunteers. To check the validity of IBT [Urdu Version], t-test was computed between MAS scores and AO-6 scale of IBT; and between ABS and full scale IBT scores. The reliability was found by using test-retest method. Results showed that IBT [Urdu Version] was a reliable and a valid instrument

Study of obesity with hyperlipidemia in Kuwaiti adults

This study of obesity with hyperlipidaemia was conducted in 124 patients on the out-patient [OP] clinic of the Administration of Food and Nutrition Department for a six month period in 1987. Fifty percent of all patients had excess body weight [Wt] between 20 - 49% above their standard body Wt and the rest had even more than that. In addition, all the patients had elevated serum cholesterol [CHL] of over 6.2 mmol/L. The occurrence of obesity was observed in both sexes from as early as 20 years of age, and a similar observation was made concerning the occurrence of CHL. The occurrence of high risk coronary heart diseases due to elevated lipids was also observed equally from the same age. The dietary habits were of high calorie intake and particularly of high cholesterol containing foods. The calorie intake was as high as 6900 calories with about 53% of fats and 4900 mg of cholesterol. Dietary intervention not only achieved the expected weight loss of one kg per week, but also corrected the abnormal biochemical values of CHL, low density lipoprotein-CHL, high density lipoprotein-CHL and Triglycerides without the intervention of drug therapy. Further research on attributed risk related to different lipid variables and establishment of a Lipid Clinic are recommended