Mental Health Programme in India: Has the tide really turned?

Mental disorders in India form a major public health concern and the efforts to tackle these dates back to four decades, by way of the National Mental Health Programme (NMHP) and its operational arm, the District Mental Health Programme (DMHP). Although the progress of NMHP (and DMHP) was relatively slower till recently, the last 4-5 years have seen rapid strides with several initiatives, including (i) expansion of DMHPs to 90 per cent of the total districts of the country, (ii) the National Mental Health Policy and (iii) strengthening the Mental Health Legislation by way of providing explicit provisions for rights of persons with mental illnesses. Among others, factors responsible for this accelerated growth include the easily accessible digital technology as well as judicial activism. Federal and State cooperation is another notable feature of this expansion. In this review, the authors summarize the available information on the evolution of implementation and research aspects related to India’s NMHP over the years and provide a case for the positive turn of events witnessed in the recent years. However, the authors caution that these are still baby steps and much more remains to be done.

Undergraduate Medicine Curriculum in India: Untying the Gordian knot

The medical education system in India is one of the largest in the world. Therefore, the quality of Indian medical education and the physicians it produces has implications on public health at large. Change is the necessity of evolution and growth. In this article, we address the challenges Indian undergraduate medical education faces and attempt to address them. The steps suggested are delineation of goals and objectives of education based upon the need of the country, adoption of innovative digital-based synchronous and asynchronous teaching, both in-person and digital learning methodology (hybrid model), early introduction of clinical postings, family adoption program, shortening the course of MBBS, problem-based learning, adjustments in the course structure, updating of course content, rationalizing assessment strategy, and emphasis on structured and skill-oriented internship.

A rare case of spontaneous nephrocutaneous fistula

Acute and chronic pyelonephritis are known afflictions to the kidney in diabetics and in patients of abnormal urinary anatomy. And its presentation as a spontaneous sinus opening on the anterior abdominal wall is a rare phenomenon. We present one such rare case of a 71-year-old male with pus discharge from the anterior abdominal wall for 7 months. On investigating, it was found to be a nephrocutaneous fistula arising from the left non-functional kidney. This was dealt with left nephrectomy along with excision of the sinus tract. Though a very rare condition, a possibility of nephrocutaneous fistula must be kept when dealing with discharging sinus in lumbar region.

Identifying Psychological Distress in Elderly Seeking Health Care.

Background: Psychological distress in the elderly with various illness conditions often goes unrecognized. Since psychological distress is treatable, it is important to recognize it at the earliest to enhance recovery. This is an interim analysis of screening data of the elderly seeking health care in a hospital in India, with a focus on the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), a screening instrument for psychological distress and a rationale for a higher cutoff score in help seeking elderly. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis of screening data of psychological distress using GHQ-12 in the elderly seeking care for neuropsychiatric conditions was carried out. Traditionally, ≥2 is considered positive for distress by GHQ-12. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve was used to define new cutoff points for psychological distress. Results: At ≥2, 2443 (50%) of the elderly screened were recognized to be psychologically distressed. Using an ROC and optimum sensitivity and specificity measures, a cutoff score of ≥4 was observed to detect 30% of the elderly who had diagnosable mental health disorders. Female sex, illiteracy, and multiple co-morbidities were the factors that were associated with higher cutoff scores on GHQ-12 proposed here and psychiatric morbidity thereof. Conclusion: There is greater psychological distress among the elderly seeking health care. Hence, it is important to screen them and identify those at higher risk. Using a higher cutoff score with a standardized instrument like GHQ-12 indicated that it was statistically valid to identify those elderly with higher distress in a busy out-patient setting.

Prevalence and Sociodemographic Correlates of Primary Headache Disorders: Results of a Population-based Survey from Bangalore, India.

Background: Headache disorders are common and burdensome throughout the world, placing high demand on health care services. Good information on their prevalence and distribution through sectors of the population are a prerequisite for planning interventions and organizing services, but unavailable for India. Objectives: To fi nd out the prevalence of headache disorders in Karnataka State and establish important sociodemographic associations. Materials and Methods: Using a door to door survey technique, amongst 2997 households, 2329 individuals were interviewed with a validated structured questionnaire by randomly sampling one adult member (aged 18-65 years) from eligible households in urban (n = 1226) and rural (n = 1103) areas of Bangalore, during the period April 2009 and January 2010. Statistical Analysis Used: Chi-square, odds ratio (OR), and logistic regression. Results: The 1-year prevalence of headache was 63.9% (62.0% when adjusted for age, gender and habitation) and 1-day prevalence (headache on the day prior to the survey) was 5.9%. Prevalence was higher in the age groups of 18-45 years, among females (OR = 2.3; 95% confi dence interval: 1.9-2.7) and those in rural areas. Prevalence was higher in rural (71.2 [68.4-73.8]) than in urban areas (57.3 [54.5-60.1]) even after adjusting for gender. The proportion of days lost to headache from paid work was 1.1%, while overall productivity loss (from both paid and household work) was 2.8%. Conclusions: Headache disorders are a major health problem in India with signifi cant burden. It requires systematic efforts to organize effective services to be able to reach a large number of people in urban and rural India. Education of physicians and other health-care workers, and the public should be a pillar of such efforts.

Cost of dementia care in India: Delusion or reality.

Context: In 2010, nearly 37 lakh Indians have been estimated to be suffering from dementia. Estimated costs of care in published literature do not reflect the actual expenses of individual households. Hence, a household budget approach was undertaken to arrive at the costs of dementia care in India. Materials and Methods: We identified and listed the different components of care, classified the applicability of care for the different components with respect to mild, moderate, and severe cases. This framework was utilized to assign costs of care and arrive at the household costs of care for a Person with Dementia (PwD) in both urban and rural areas. Results: The total expense was similar to that reported by individual households. The annual household cost of caring for a person with dementia in India, depending on the severity of the disease, ranged between INR 45,600 to INR 2,02,450 in urban areas and INR 20,300 to INR 66,025 in rural areas. Costs increased with increasing severity of the disease process. The costs of informal care contributed to nearly half of the total costs either in rural or urban area. With increasing severity, proportion of medical costs decreased while social cost increased. Medical costs in rural areas were nearly one-third of the total costs as against less than one-fifth in urban areas. Conclusion: The household budget model realistically estimated the household costs of care. It is hoped that the comprehensive and generic framework would prompt health professionals, researchers, and policy makers in India to catalyze geriatric health services, particularly for care for PwD.

Human intestinal capillariasis: A rare case report from non-endemic area (Andhra Pradesh, India).

Human intestinal capillariasis is caused by Capillaria philippinensis. This disease is endemic in Philippines and Thailand. To the best of our knowledge, we report the third case of human intestinal capillariasis from India and the first case from Andhra Pradesh, which is a non-endemic area. A 40-year-old female presented with diarrhoea, vomiting, decreased urinary output, ascitis, pedal oedema, hypoalbuminemia, and electrolyte imbalance. Microscopic examination of stool sample revealed the presence of ova, larvae, and adult worms of C. philippinensis. Patient recovered from the disease after taking albendazole 400 mg daily for 1 month along with supportive treatment.

case of solitary fibrous tumor of the kidney

A solitary fibrous tumor [SFT] is an unusual spindle cell neoplasm that usually occurs in the pleura but has recently been described in diverse extrapleural sites. Urogenital localization is rare and to our knowledge, only 39 cases of SFT of the kidney have been described. Although SFT of the kidney is extremely rare, this tumor must be included in the differential diagnosis, whenever a renal tumor consisting of mesenchymal elements is encountered. We report a case of a large SFT of the right kidney which was clinically and radiologically thought to be renal cell carcinoma and a final diagnosis of SFT was made only after immunohistochemical study

Feasibility study of stroke surveillance: Data from Bangalore, India.

Background & objectives: Stroke is a leading cause of deaths, and disabilities in India. Reliable and good quality data on epidemiological characteristics of stroke are essential to plan, implement and evaluate stroke prevention and control programmes. A feasibility study was undertaken in Bangalore to examine the possibility of establishing stroke surveillance and to develop methodology for a larger programme. Methods: The study adapted WHO STEPs-STROKE methodology to collect data on hospitalized stroke events and fatal stroke events in the city of Bangalore. In STEP I, Information was collected from 1,174 stroke patients in three large hospitals and were followed till discharge and 28 days; outcome was measured as death or disability. Stroke cases fulfilling diagnostic criteria, evaluated by neurologists and CT/MRI confirmed cases were included. Brief information on major risk factors was collected from all stroke patients / family members and from medical records by trained research officers. In STEP II, death records of Bangalore Mahanagara Palike for 2004 (n=23,312) were analyzed to identify stroke related deaths. Results: Using WHO-STEPs approach, a methodology was developed for stroke surveillance in a geographically defined population. By STEP 1 method - 7 per cent of medical and 45 per cent of neurological admissions were due to stroke with a fatality rate of 9 per cent at hospital discharge and 20 per cent at 28 days. With a mean age of 54.5 (± 17.0) yr and male preponderance, nearly half had one or more risk factors. Weakness or paresis (92%) was the commonest presentation and ischaemic stroke was most frequent (73.8%). One third of total stroke patients were dependent at both discharge and 28 day follow up. By STEP II method the proportional mortality rate for Bangalore city was observed to be 6 per cent and more than 50 per cent of total stroke deaths had occurred in 10 major hospitals. Interpretation & conclusions: The present study has shown that stroke surveillance is possible and feasible. Institution based (hospitals and vital registry data) stroke surveillance supplemented with periodical population based information can provide comprehensive information on vital aspects of stroke like mortality, risk factors, disability and outcome. There is a need to develop stroke surveillance in a phased manner along with mechanisms to apply data for prevention and control programmes.

Tobacco use amongst children in Karnataka.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence, pattern and correlates of tobacco use amongst the 13-15 year olds in schools of Karnataka. METHODS: A three stage (area, school level and class level) cluster sample design was adopted and 80 schools from 12 districts of the state were selected. A total of 4,110 students participated in the study with an overall response rate of 87%. RESULTS: Point prevalence of tobacco use amongst 13-15 year old was 4.9%. Current tobacco use was predominantly a male feature and use of smokeless variety predominated (transitional Karnataka (8.2%); metropolis (6.8%); rural (3.4%). One third of current tobacco users (30.8%) purchased tobacco product in a store and one-fifth used it at home. Nearly half of the never smokers (43% to 56.7%) were exposed to tobacco smoke outside home and 83% favored a ban on smoking in public places. A male tobacco user was perceived to have more friends and was reported to make them look attractive. Print media was a predominant source of message, more so in the metropolitan region. Only one-third (31.6%) reported that the reasons of tobacco usage amongst youth was discussed in formal school settings. CONCLUSION: GYTS Karnataka has provided reliable estimates and shown the feasibility of implementing a surveillance programme. Specific challenges for Public health that emerge from the study are increasing number of users in transitional areas, continued media exposure, tobacco users being perceived to be popular and attractive, easy and relatively unrestricted access, lack of systematic support within schools and social acceptance of tobacco use at home. The need of the hour is to target and focus interventions through comprehensive programmes aimed at children, school authorities, parents and policy makers.

Transcatheter closure of perimembranous ventricular septal defect with amplatzer membranous occluder.

BACKGROUND: Use of trancatheter device closure for membranous ventricular septal defect is still in evolving phase. We report the early and mid-term results of our experience with the new asymmetric Amplatzer membranous ventricular septal defect occluder. METHODS AND RESULTS: We attempted, transcatheter closure of perimembranous ventricular septal defect using asymmetric Amplatzer occluder in 26 patients. The patients were selected on the basis of transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiographic assessment of the ventricular septal defect. The procedure was successful in 21 (81%) patients. The age ranged from 3 to 23 years, weight from 10 to 59 kg and defect size ranged from 3 to 9 mm (mean: 5 +/- 1.8 mm). One patient had situs inversus with dextrocardia: 11 had aneurysmal tissue partly occluding the defect and the device was deployed either across (n=6) or within the aneurysmal sac (n=5). Three patients developed high degree atrioventricular block on attempts to cross the defect with the sheath and the procedure was discontinued. In two patients it was not possible to place the sheath in left ventricle despite repeated attempts. There was a residual flow in 4 (19%) patients at 24 hours. Two patients developed bundle branch block and none had complete heart block. At follow-up (1-9 months, n=20), residual flow was seen in two patients. None developed late conduction defect, aortic regurgitation, infective endocarditis or hemolysis. CONCLUSIONS: Transcatheter closure of perimembranous ventricular septal defect can be performed safely and effectively with the new asymmetric Amplatzer occluder device in selected patients with good short- and midterm results. These devices can be deployed safely in and across and the aneurysmal sacs. In selected cases, this procedure is a satisfactory alternative to surgery.

An evaluation of cold chain system for vaccines in Bangalore.

The cold chain plays a major role in the universal immunization programme which helps in preventing against six major killer diseases in children. We collected 144 study samples randomly from different parts of Bangalore to know the training status of personnel, refrigeration facilities, storage, monitoring and potency of vaccines. It was observed that 6.6% of general practitioners were trained under Universal Immunization Programme, monitoring was not satisfactory, and two of the OPV samples from medical practitioners had an unsatisfactory titre dose. Comprehensive orientation/training on cold chain is essential for medical practitioners and other professionals.