Health literacy on depression and suicidal behavior among public secondary teachers in Manila

Background and Objectives@#The daily interactions of teachers with students allow the former to observe behavioral changes in the latter. This can serve as an opportunity to emphasize teachers' role in mental health interventions in the school setting. This study aimed to provide baseline information regarding high school teachers' mental health literacy specifically on the recognition and referral of students with depression and suicidal behavior. @*Methodology@#The study design was descriptive cross-sectional that included 460 high school teachers from a district in the City of Manila. The modified QualisMental Vignette Scale for depression literacy and Adolescent Suicide Behavior Questionnaire for suicide literacy was adapted as assessment tools. @*Results and Conclusion@#Results of the study found that 64% correctly identified depression as a mental health problem in the modified case vignette. The highest proportion of respondents chose 'informing the parents' as their preferred mode of referral system. The teachers had varying levels of knowledge on suicidal behaviors. More mental health literacy interventions focusing on depression and suicide must be conducted among teachers to improve their competency on these topics.

Illness perception of patients with chronic pain: An internal validation of the subscales of the Filipino version of the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) in a sample of adult patients with chronic pain presenting for pain management at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH)

OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to determine the internal validity of the different subscales of the Filipino version of Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) among patients with chronic pain.METHODS: A cross-sectional study involving chronic pain outpatients at the Philippine General Hospital Pain Clinic and inpatients admitted between September 2016 to November 2016 was done. Data were obtained through self-administered Filipino version of the IPQ-R. Internal structure of the questionnaire was analyzed using Cronbach's alpha coefficients and confirmatory factor analysis.RESULTS: A total of 143 patients with chronic pain participated; mean age was 54.9 years. The consistencies of the Filipino version of IPQ-R dimensions for consequence, illness coherence, timeline (cyclical), and emotional representation were within conventional limits with small variations from the original English IPQ-R. However, timeline (acute/chronic), personal control,and treatment control scales failed to reach consistency. By excluding seven items nevertheless, there was noted improvement in the Cronbach's alpha of the corresponding scales.CONCLUSION:The inter-factor correlations of the Filipino version were relatively similar to those reported in the original English IPQ-R. The modified questionnaire showed good validity and could be a valuable instrument in the assessment of illness perceptions in the Filipino health care setting.