Characteristics of health seeking behaviors for patients with psoriasis in a general hospital / 中南大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the characteristics of health seeking behaviors and relevant factors among the outpatients with psoriasis in a general hospital, and to provide scientific evidence to modify the inappropriate health seeking behaviors for psoriasis patients and improve the therapeutic effect. 
@*METHODS@#Using cross-sectional study design, a dermatological clinic in a general hospital was selected for this study. Two hundred psoriasis outpatients from 1st April to 30th September in 2014 were enrolled. A series of questionnaires were used to collect information regarding the social-demographic characteristics, health seeking behaviors, knowledge on psoriasis, and depressive and anxious symptoms.
@*RESULTS@#Among 200 psoriasis outpatients, 141 patients (70.5%) experienced transfer treatment. One hundred and eighty-two patients (91.0%) went to formal hospitals in county for treatment when symptoms were firstly displayed; the other 18 patients (9.0%) went to village or community clinics, or the private clinics. Over 50% patients chose municipal hospital and 35.0% patients went to provincial hospital for medical treatment among the 182 patients. Ninety-one percent of the patients made decision for the first treatment after consulting with their spouses or relatives. According to the definition of the appropriate health seeking behavior in this study, 50 patients (25%) had inappropriate health seeking behaviors. Logistic regression analysis showed inappropriate health seeking behaviors correlated with the family whose income was less than 3 000 yuan per person per month (OR=2.232, 95%CI 1.086 to 4.585), patients who made the decision for the treatment with no discussion with other people when the symptoms appeared (OR=3.016, 95%CI 1.023 to 8.893), and the high score of the International Psoriasis Severity Index (OR=1.043, 95%CI 1.001 to 1.088). 
@*CONCLUSION@#The dermatological practitioner should pay more attention to the factors, such as social-demographical characteristics, especially the low level of family income and their treatment experience. It is necessary for the general hospital to conduct health education for psoriasis outpatients to promote their appropriate health seeking behaviors.

Emotional problems and related factors in patients with HIV/AIDS / 中南大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the prevalence and related factors of emotional problems of newly identified patients with HIV/AIDS in Changsha, Hunan Province, and to provide scientific evidence for the mental health intervention in this special population.@*METHODS@#A total of 370 patients with HIV/AIDS who were newly identified by the Center for Disease Prevention and Control in Changsha City from March 1, 2013 to February 28, 2014 were investigated. Self-designed questionnaire, Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), HIV/AIDS Stress Scale and Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS) were performed to assess the prevalence of depression, the anxiety symptoms, the HIV related stress and the status of social support.@*RESULTS@#The prevalence of depression and anxiety were 40.3% (PHQ-9 ≥ 10 points) and 30.5% (GAD-7 ≥ 10 points), respectively. Severe depressive symptoms (PHQ-9≥20 points) and severe anxiety (GAD-7 ≥ 15 points) accounted for 8.1% and 14.3%, respectively. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that the status of employment (b=-3.407, P<0.001; b=-2.799, P=0.001), the sexual orientation (b=1.903, P=0.008; b=1.314, P=0.034), the resident status (b=-1.995, P=0.012; b=-2.167, P=0.002), the emergence of HIV-related symptoms(b=4.578, P<0.001; b=3.652, P<0.001) and the HIV related stress (b=0.081, P<0.001; b=0.090, P<0.001) were the predictors for both depressive and anxious emotional problems whereas the social support (b=-0.046, P=0.044) was the predictor for depressive emotional problems. Both anxiety (ΔR2=54.7%, P<0.001) and depression (ΔR2=55.8%, P<0.001) were strong predictors for patients with HIV/AIDS.@*CONCLUSION@#Depression and anxiety are prevalent among the newly identified patients with HIV/ AIDS. Psychosocial support and basic mental health services should be integrated into the current HIV/AIDS care system.