ABSTRACT
Objective@#Schizophrenia is a serious disease characterized by impairment in the perception or expression of reality, leading to occupational and social dysfunction. The use of antipsychotic medication is now universal in the first-line treatment of schizophrenia. This study was undertaken to compare the efficacy of asenapine with a standard atypical antipsychotic, olanzapine in treating this disease. @*Methods@#It was designed as a single blind, randomized, controlled, parallel group, single centre Phase IV trial of a newer atypical antipsychotic, asenapine versus existing standard atypical antipsychotic, olanzapine. Total 80 subjects were enrolled as per eligibility criteria.Each recruited subject received daily treatment with the trial medication (Olanzapine 10 mg or Asenapine 10 mg daily) for duration of 12 weeks. BPRS, CGI-S, CGI-I, Laboratory parameters and compliance was assessed and analyzed. Continuous variables were compared by t test and non-parametric data was analyzed by Mann−Whitney U test and Wilcoxon signed rank test. Likely categorical variables were analyzed by chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test, as appropriate. @*Results@#The duration of schizophrenia at presentation was comparable in both the treatment groups. There was significant reduction of BPRS score between any two visits of each treatment groups. The decline in CGI-S and CGI-I scores was statistically significant (p ＜ 0.001) when compared between visits of any of the both treatment arms.Adherence to treatment was excellent for all patients. @*Conclusion@#Newer atypical antipsychotic asenapine is more effective than standard olanzapine in reducing the symptoms of schizophrenia in this study and further larger studies are to be done.
ABSTRACT
Background: Being in the age of technological advancement, the human mind is under constant risk of being engulfed by social media leading to pathological internet use. Cyberworld serves as a buffer under stress by means of satisfying various needs of an individual in the form of entertainment, access to information, gaining recognition and maintaining relationships. Conversely, the morbid preoccupation of the internet was found to be averted by positive coping resilience and sense of self?efficacy under stressful condition
Objectives: To observe the pattern of internet use in medical students and to explore any possible relationship of internet use with stressful life event and resilience level
Materials and Methods: The study sample was drawn from medical undergraduates using semistructured questionnaire consisting of demographic profile, details of various aspects of internet use, internet addiction test questionnaire [IAT], resilience scale and student stress scale [SSS]
Results: Almost all of the participants [n = 98] used the internet and social media. Mean age of the sample was 20.41 [ +/- 1.64] years, 64.3% were male and 35.7% female. On IAT, 80.6% students were moderate users, and 19.4% were problem users. IAT negatively correlated with resilience [r = -0.272, P = 0.007], whereas positively correlated with SSS total score [r = 0.330, P = 0.001] and total number of stressful life events [r = 0.335, P = 0.001]. 30.6% of the students stated that a major life event had influenced their internet usage. In the linear regression model, life event appeared as a significant predictor of IAT score
Conclusion: Medical students acknowledge the role of the internet in surviving the enormous stress level brought on by various life events. At the same time, stressful life events could predict IA