study of long stay psychiatric in-patients: assessment of disabilities and a plea for discharge

All long-stay in-patients in a state mental hospital were identified and studied both retrospectively and cross-sectionally with several psychometric tests. Fifty-three patients were included in the study and divided into 3 main groups. A comprehensive assessment was done to all the patients, except the mentally retarded. The assessment included the mini-mental state examination, the social behavior schedule, the scale for the assessment of positive symptoms and the scale for assessment of negative symptoms. Apart from the mini-mental state examination, the patients were recommended for discharge. As regards diagnosis, schizophrenics were significantly more recommended for the in-patient hospital recommendation, while the reverse was true for the mentally retarded group who were significantly more recommended for discharge

Application of GHQ-28 and MMSE in bilharzial patients with and without hepatic complications

The General Health Questionnaire [GHQ] and the Mini Mental State Examination [MMSE] were applied on 150 individuals [72 patients with early bilharziasis, 51 with late bilharziasis and 27 non-bilharizal control subjects]. Results showed that patents with early bilharziasis suffered significantly more in the somatization and anxiety -insomnia subscales, while the late bilharzial group suffered significantly more in the area of social dysfunction. The MMSE did not show significant differences. Differential effects of bilharziasis on GHQ scores in different stages of the disease were discussed and recommendations for future research in this important and neglected area were made to clarify further psychiatric aspects of bilharziasis

Assessment of length of stay in a psychiatric unit

A sample of the files of the patients admitted to the psychiatric unit of Cairo University teaching hospital were analyzed for different demographic and clinical variables. Patients were divided into those with a short stay [less than 2 weeks] and those with an intermediate stay [more than 2 weeks]. The mean length of stay for the former group was 8.6 days and for the latter group was 42.73 days [P< 0.01]. The only variable of significant difference between the two groups was social status, where single status was significantly more associated with the short term group. The authors discuss the clinical implications of their findings and present recommendations for future research

Studies on severe outbreaks of infectious bursal disease

Studies on the clinical, pathological and biochemical changes during the course of an experimental infectious bursitis in chickens were done. Clinical signs including depression, anorexia and deaths were first recorded. The bursa of fabricius were slightly enlarged on the 3rd and 4th days post infection. No precipitins against IBDV could be detected by AGPI. Infected chickens revealed a significant elevation of prothrombin time, alanine aminotransferase, creatinine and uric acid. Other parameters, like serum total proteins, alkaline phosphatase, total cholesterol and potassium levels, were declined