Evaluation of quality of life in kidney transplantation patients in Bahrain

To evaluate the quality of life [QOL] in patients who had undergone kidney transplantation in Bahrain. Forty two subjects living in Bahrain who had received primary kidney transplant for end stage renal disease and 40 healthy controls were studied. Data was collected by personal interview and from medical records using a questionnaire. The questionnaire included sociodemographic data and psychometry implementing the General Health Questionnaire and the Psychological General Wellbeing Schedule. Both groups were age- and gender-matched. No significant differences were detected between the groups in the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity, although the control group experienced greater morbidity than the transplant group. No significant differences were detected between the transplant and the controls in the mean scores of the General Well-being Schedule or its subscales. The QOL of the renal transplant and the matched healthy controls are almost similar. The effectiveness, acceptability and economic impact of renal transplantation should take into consideration the QOL dimensions of the kidney transplant recipients

Patterns of electroconclusive therapy in Bahrain

This is a study of the pattern of use and the response to electroconvulsive therapy [ECT] administered in the Psychiatric Hospital between 1984 and 1987. ECT rate in Bahrain was found to be 0.67 individual applications per thousand total population. 1.48% of all psychiatric patients seen during the period of the study received ECT. 61.3% of cases who received ECT were suffering from schizophrenic illnesses, 38.7% from affective disorders. The best results were found in affective disorders; 58.8% had good improvement whereas in schizophrenics group 36.1% had good improvement. However, catatonic schizophrenics, which if singled out, gave the best results with [81%] good improvement. The female to male sex ratio is 1.3. Side effects in this study were found to be less than those reported in other studies