Beliefs about illness of patients with schizophrenia

To elicit the beliefs and perception of patients with schizophrenia about their illness by using Short Explanatory Model Interview [SEMI]. This cross sectional study was conducted in the department of psychiatry, Lady Reading Hospital. One hundred and three patients of schizophrenia were included in the study. Short Explanatory Model Interview [SEMI] was used to assess the explanatory model of illness of the sample. Four major areas covered in SEMI were "Concept" i.e., naming the illness, "Cause", "Treatment Choice" i.e., help seeking behaviour, and "Severity" of the illness. Mean age of the sample was 30.52 +/- 9.41 years. Regarding Concept, 34[33%] patients who although couldn't name any but attributed their condition to mental illness. The major response to the cause for the development of schizophrenia was stress of social issues by 22[23.30%] patients. A total of 56[54.3%] patients reported a combination of medication and spiritual healer to be the help seeking/ treatment choice. Only 44 [42.7%] patients considered the illness to be very serious. Our study suggests that patients suffering from schizophrenia believe that they have some form of mental illness but mostly attribute it to stress and other social factors. They prefer visiting spiritual healers along with medication for seeking help regarding their illness

Brief culturally adapted cognitive behaviour therapy for obsessive compulsive disorder: a pilot study

To demonstrate the effectiveness of Brief Culturally adapted Cognitive Behavior Therapy [CaCBT] in the treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder [OCD]. This pre and post design study was conducted on out-patients with OCD at Centre for Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Fountain House, Lahore, from April 2011 to April 2012. A semi structured questionnaire was developed to document demographic details of all the patients. All the participants were assessed at baseline [Pre Therapy session] with Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Scale [Y-BOCS], Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [Depression Subscale and Anxiety Subscale] and Brief Disability Questionnaire [BDQ]. They were re-assessed on the same scales at the end of therapy in a follow up assessment session. Feedback from patients and their family member, who were trained as co-therapist, was obtained at the end of the therapy for assessing the satisfaction with the therapy. All the patients received six sessions of brief culturally adapted cognitive behavior therapy [CaCBT]. Statistical analyses were carried out using SPSS v.22. The mean age of the sample [n=21] was 31.14 +/- 11.9 years. There were significant differences post CBT between the scores of Y-BOCS [p=0.000], HADS - Depression subscale [p=0.001], HADS - Anxiety subscale [p=0.000] and BDQ [p=0.000]. This study provides preliminary evidence for effectiveness of culturally adapted CBT for OCD

Reliability of the ICD-10 international personality disorder examination [Urdu translation]: a preliminary study

To test the reliability and applicability of Urdu translation of the International personality disorder examination [IPDE] in a psychiatric outpatient population in Pakistan. This study was conducted at the outpatient department of Fatima Memorial Hospital Lahore from April 2012 to March 2013. Patients considered to have a personality disorder by a psychiatrist were initially screened by the IPDE screening questionnaire. Those who scored positive on screening were evaluated in a detailed interview using IPDE. Two interviewers conducted the interviews simultaneously, to ensure inter-rater reliability. For translation, permission was taken from World Health Organization. Linguistic equivalence was assessed through back- translation and conceptual equivalence through opinion of mental health experts. The final Urdu draft was obtained after incorporating modifications suggested by experts following a feasibility study. The analysis was carried out using SPSS v.20. Out of 30 enrolled patients, 25[83.3%] were females. The mean age of the sample was 28.5 +/- 6.08 years. Majority of patients had more than one personality disorder. Most prevalent personality disorder was emotionally unstable borderline type with a phi correlation of 0.831, followed by emotionally unstable impulsive type and anankastic personality disorder with phi correlations of 0.930 and 0.867, respectively, for definite cases. Correlation coefficient for dimensional scores between the two raters was 0.392 for paranoid personality disorder, 0.842 for anankastic and around 0.9 for the rest of the personality disorders, each. Urdu translation of IPDE is a reliable tool to screen and diagnose personality disorders in population of Pakistan

Major depression in a large family in Pakistan: no relationship to inbreeding, economic status or rural living

To describe the relationships between depression and gender, socio-economic status, education, urban or rural living and coefficient of inbreeding in a well defined relatively homogeneous population. Descriptive study. King Edward Medical College, Lahore from January 1999 to January 2002. Subjects were interviewed and diagnosed by a trained psychiatrist and information was collected on various variables. Inbreeding coefficients were calculated from genealogical data. Of 211 persons interviewed, 182 had a lifetime diagnosis of recurrent major depression and 26 had no psychiatric diagnosis. Multiple regression analysis revealed greater severity and earlier age at onset in women than men but no significant correlation of severity or age at onset with socioeconomic status, urban versus rural living or coefficient of inbreeding. This appears to be a genetically homogenous sub-type of depression and further genetic studies may reveal underlying genetic risk factors

comparison of the knowledge of psychiatric problems among medical students, doctors, university teachers and students in Lahore, Pakistan

Comparison of the medical and non-medical group for the knowledge of mental illness and its treatment. Cross sectional study. The study was conducted between March to September 2004 in two medical colleges and their attached hospital [King Edward Medical College, Allama Iqbal Medical College and Mayo Hospital] and in Punjab University, Lahore Pakistan. We compared the knowledge of the medical students and doctors with those of the university students and teachers using a standardised questionnaire. Of the medical group, 294 [59%] of the 500 survey forms sent out were returned, while in non medical group 194 out of 300 [64.66%] survey forms were returned. A total of 488 participants [medical students and doctors =294, university students and teachers=194], returned their completed survey forms. The non medical group [University Teachers and Students] were less familiar with the mental disorders such as Schizophrenia, compared to medical group [73 vs.76]. Strikingly similar patterns of knowledge were found between the two groups apart from medical matters, e.g.; knowledge about illnesses, treatments and type of therapies. There is a need for wider community education and information geared towards improving the knowledge of the people about mental illness. It also appears that the medical curriculum needs changes, so that the future doctors have better understanding of mental illness

Stigma and psychiatric illness. a survey of attiude of medical students and doctors in Lahore, Pakistan

The stigma attached to mental illness in the West is now well recognised. There is however, only limited information available on this topic from the developing countries. Measurement of stigma among medical students and doctors is straightforward to carry out allowing targeted work to educate doctors in countries with few resources. This study was carried out to assess the attitude of medical students and doctors, attending medical colleges in Lahore, Pakistan. A survey was circulated among the medical students and the doctors of the three medical colleges in Lahore, Pakistan. 294 [59%] of the 500 survey forms sent out were returned. Just over half of the respondents held negative attitudes towards people with schizophrenia, depression, drug and alcohol disorders. However, most had favourable views of the recovery and treatability of the mental disorders. The views held by the medical students and the doctors in Lahore, Pakistan are broadly similar to the opinions expressed by the medical students and doctors in the UK

Attiude of the university students and teachers towards mentally ill, in Lahore, Pakistan

Although, much is known about the attitudes and beliefs people hold towards mental illness in the west, no such work has been done in the developing countries. It is difficult to measure the attitudes of the general public in developing countries due to differences in terminology and concepts of the illness. However, majority of educated people in the developing countries can recognise common psychiatric disorders by their western names. We therefore, decided to measure attitudes of university students and teachers in Lahore, Pakistan. This study was carried out to assess the attitude of university students and teachers in Lahore, Pakistan. A survey form was circulated among the university students and the teachers in Lahore, Pakistan. Of the 300 survey forms 194 were returned. Majority of the respondents held negative attitudes towards people with schizophrenia, depression and drug and alcohol disorders. The views held by the university teachers and students reveal negative attitudes towards mentally ill. Attitudes of those who knew someone with mental illness were similar to those who did not