Perceived stress and monetary burden among thalassemia patients and their caregivers

Objective: To find the perceived stress level and monetary burden in the thalassemia patients and their caregivers related to thalassemia treatment sessions

Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted at Rawalpindi Thalassemia Centre and Military Hospital Rawalpindi of six months' duration from November 2016 to April 2017. A total of 87 sample size was calculated by using WHO sample size calculator. Participants were inducted through purposive sampling technique from thalassemia centers. A validated standardized Cohen's Perceived Stress score was used. Data were entered and analyzed in SPSS 22

Results: Mean age of the participants was 30.42 +/- 14.53 years. There were 30 [34.2%] males and 57 [65.8%] females. There were 39 [51.3%] patients and 48 [48.7%] caregivers. The mean income per month of the participants was 48706.9 +/- 39492.68 PKR. The mean total expenditure per treatment session was 48706 +/- 4037.12 PKR. Among the patients, there were 15 [38.5%] who were having average stress, while 4 [10.3%] were having moderate stress while 45 [51.7%0] were having severe stress. Among the caregivers, 10 [20.8%] were having mild stress, 13 [27.1%] were having moderate stress while 25 [52.1%] were having severe stress. The stress among the two groups was not statistically significant [p=0.066]

Conclusion: More than half of the patients and caregivers were having a high perceived stress levels and there was a significant association between the two groups. The monetary burden was a lot to bear by the patients and the cost of treatment session most expensive

Perceptions of patients on doctors' and nurses' non-verbal communication in Lahore, Pakistan: a phenomenological study

Objective: The study identifies and determines the frequency and types of non-verbal behaviours of doctors and nurses as perceived by patients and elucidates their effect on healthcare delivery

Study Design: Descriptive study

Place and Duration of the Study: The study is conducted in outpatient departments of Red Crescent Hospital, Dina Nath and Fatima Memorial Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan, for a period of 2 weeks

Patients and Methods: Semi-structured Interviews of 40 patients [20 from each hospital] coming for their appointments are conducted and analysed by Heidegger's Phenomenological principles. Purposive sampling method is used to recruit the volunteer patients from various socio-economic strata in this study

Results: The findings revealed that majority of the patients [80 percent=32] perceived non-verbal behaviours of the professionals spontaneously. The most frequent behaviours affecting healthcare delivery were facial expressions and the tone of voice. It was found that age, class and education are the factors that affect patients' perceptions. In total fourteen kinds of non-verbal behaviours were perceived by the patients amounting to 139 repetitions. The researchers have analysed only those non-verbal cues in the study that were found most frequently

Conclusion: Non-verbal communication plays a significant role for the development of interpersonal relationship between doctors, nurses and patients. As many messages are transmitted paralinguistically, the health professionals must be trained to understand and gauge their own non-verbal cues towards the patients

Workplace stressors and their effects on health of mid-career female doctors of a semi government hospital

Objective: To identify the nature of workplace stressors and their influence on health of mid-career female doctors of a semi government hospital of Rawalpindi

Study Design: Qualitative study which employed collective case study approach

Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted in a semi government hospital of Pakistan, from Jan to Jun 2016

Material and Methods: A total of 12 midcareer female doctors having more than ten years of working experience in a semi government hospital of Rawalpindi were identified and approached. This study was a qualitative study and collective case study approach was used. All females were interviewed after the informed consent by using semi-structured questionnaire. They were inquired about the stress factors they come across at their workplace that affect their health. They were also inquired about the nature of health issues facing them due to these stress factors. Themes identified in the data were compared with themes already searched in literature

Results: One on one in depth interviews of mid-career female doctors revealed various themes associated with departmental and institutional stress factors. All female doctors believed that their job was very challenging and tough and they faced many problems like gender discrimination, long working hours, stressful working environment, low salaries and lack of rewards and remuneration policies of institutions, all of which had caused harm to their health

Conclusion: Work place stress factors influence the health and well-being of mid-career female doctors' by curbing their efficiency and having a negative impact on their overall quality of life by causing harm to their health

Medical prescription adherence among patient visiting gynecology department

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the level of Medical prescription adherence among gynecological patients of Pakistan

Study Design: Cross-sectional study

Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in Punjab province and data were collected from June 2015 to April 2016

Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in main cities of Punjab province of Pakistan; Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad and Sheikhupura. The survey data was collected from different location of cities. Patients visiting the gynecological and going to chemists for getting the prescribed medicine were selected through probability based random sampling for this study. The questionnaire consisted on the extent to which they adhere to time, dose, frequency and procedure prescribed from their doctors. The questions were asked in native language [Urdu]. The data analysis was performed by using SPSS software [Ver.21]

Results: Results of this study, based on sample from four big cities of Punjab province of Pakistan, showed that the level of medical prescription was associated with the age, qualification and background of the patients. Adherence level of patients reporting with rural background was observed higher than the adherence level of patients from urban areas

Conclusion: Over all the patient require counseling regarding adherence to medical prescription irrespective of the nature of the disease