Frequency of psychiatric disorders in referred hospitalized patients of other medical disciplines a hospital based study

To asses the frequency of psychiatric disorders in the admitted patients of other medical disciplines at PNS Shifa Karachi. Cross sectional study. Place and duration of study: The study was conducted at PNS Shifa Karachi from April 2007 to Oct 2007. Total of 427 hospitalized patients in other medical disciplines at PNS Shifa Karachi; a tertiary care hospital, referred for psychiatric consultation in sequence were studied. The age of the patients ranged from 13 to 97 years, with the mean age being 43.22 years. Sixty four percent patients of the studied individuals were males. Forty nine percent patients were diagnosed to be suffering from Depression/Dysthymia. Twelve percent patients qualified the diagnosis of Anxiety disorder and Reaction to severe stress and adjustment disorders each. Seventeen percent patients suffered from Dementia, Delirium, Psychoactive substance abuse, Acute and transient Psychotic disorder, Schizophrenia, Bipolar affective disorder/Mood disorder and Puerperal depression. A considerable proportion of psychiatrically ill patients require psychiatric intervention either because of their primary psychiatric disorder or secondary psychological reactions to physical morbidity. Such intervention in time not only improves the quality of patient's life but also saves the heavy portion of the budget utilized for medical services in these patients later on if not diagnosed earlier

Knowledge and awareness among medical students about maternal mortality in Pakistan

To assess knowledge and awareness of medical students about maternal mortality in Pakistan. A cross sectional survey of graduating medical students of Final Years MBBS was conducted in Hamdard University Hospital using a pre-tested self administered questionnaire. A total of 100 i.e 85 students and 15 house surgeons filled the questionnaire.The data was analysed on SPSS. Only 35% of medical students knew about maternal mortality ratio [MMR] of Pakistan, where as only 55 percents responded correctly about causes of high MMR. They don't have correct idea about social factors and [4 delays] responsible for mortality in our society. The overall result suggests that our young graduating medical students are not aware of the health situation of Pakistan. They have no idea about basic problems in the society and community about maternal mortality and their role in improving the situation. It is now high time that community based education and training should be introduced in the curriculum so that these young doctors can be utilized in order to achieve the targets set under millennium development goal