Magnitude of depression and its determinants among older persons in urban community of Agra

Background: With increasing life expectancy people are living longer but they are not necessarily healthier than before. Nearly a quarter (23%) of the overall global burden of death and illness is in people aged over 60, and much of this burden is attributable to long-term illness like non-communicable diseases and mental health problems. Aims & Objectives: Aim of the study the magnitude of depression among elderly population of Agra. Objectives To estimate the prevalence of depression in elderly population of Agra. 2. To study the factors associated with depression among elderly population of Agra. Material and Methods: This study was conducted among 355 elderly in urban Agra. Data was collected by house to house visit using pre-designed and pre-tested schedule. Geriatric depression scale (GDS-30) was used to assess the burden of depression in study population. Results: The mean age of the study participants was 68.05 years. Depression was found in 50.1% among study population and 15.5% had severe depression. Depression was more among the Illiterates, Muslims, financial dependents, those who were suffering from chronic disease/s, encountered a stressor in the last 6 months, less religious, not living with partner or suffered elderly abuse. Conclusion: High burden of depression was found among the victims of elderly abuse. Stressful life events and absence of spouse were found to be significant risk factors for depression. To deal with these factors we suggest a link worker Geriatric Age Social Health Agent (G-ASHA) to act as a link between family, community and authorities.

Aneurysmal bone cyst of the temporal bone: a case report.

Aneurysmal bone cyst in temporal region is rare. It is a benign condition and may extend intracranially. Total surgical removal is recommended, whenever possible in one stage or in multiple stages. Prognosis is excellent and total removal will effect a cure. An unusual case of aneurysmal bone cyst of temporal region is reported.

Congenital intracranial teratoma of the lateral ventricle.

A case of lateral ventricular teratoma in neonate, where near total excision of tumour was done, is being reported with the review of literature.

Meningioma associated with contralateral chronic subdural haematoma: a short report.

Two unusual cases of meningiomas associated with opposite chronic subdural haematoma are presented.

Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans of scalp : a case report.

A case of dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans of scalp involving the underlying bone, operated after recurrence by taking safety margin of 3 cm and skin deficit covered by transposition flap, is being reported. Modality of treatment has been discussed.

Post-encephalitic Kluver-Bucy syndrome.

Kluver-Bucy syndrome is a rare amalgamation of neurobehavioural signs and symptoms seen infrequently in humans following insult to bilateral temporal lobes. This report presents a case which along with emerging symptoms of Kluver-Bucy syndrome, developed Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) consequent to viral encephalitis. The case highlights the presentation and management of this syndrome in a six-year-old girl with primary focus on the implications of Kluver-Bucy symptoms in current clinical practice involving neurobehavioural syndromes in children.

Lithium neurotoxicity at therapeutic level--a case report.

A 30 years old Hindu male presenting with symptoms of lithium toxicity. On investigation, serum lithium level was found to be 0.5 meq/l. Though toxicity at this level of lithium is unusual, still neurotoxicity happened to be the cause of his hospital admission. He was debarred from taking lithium further and carbamazepine was started as mood elevator. He responded favourably.

A comparison of stapled vs handsewn anastomosis in anterior resection for carcinoma rectum.

The merits of stapled versus hand sewn anastomosis were evaluated in a prospective randomized study of 60 patients undergoing resection for rectal cancer. The analysed factors included the time required for construction of anastomosis, post operative complications, local recurrence, disease free state and survival. Hand sewn anastomosis was performed in two layers with 3/0 silk in 30 cases and the stapled anastomosis with EEA staplers in 30 cases. The anastomosis time averaged 24 minutes in the suture group and 16 minutes in the stapling group. Five post-operative complications occurred in each group. Six patients of the hand sewn group developed local recurrence as a first sign of treatment failure compared to four patients in the stapled group. The average time of study was 41 months. No significant difference was found in the overall survival pattern of the two groups.

Gastric cancer: a critical analysis of surgical treatment and long term survival.

Results of consecutive study of 120 cases of carcinoma stomach treated by one surgical team over a period of 10 years (1980-89) are presented. Maximum cases were in the sixth and seventh decades with male to female sex ratio of 2.5:1. The lesion in most cases were in the gastric antrum. Distal tumours were more of poorly differentiated histology compared to proximal tumours. Eighty-three out of 120 (69%) patients underwent surgical resection. In 50 patients it was in the form of a subtotal and distal gastrectomy. Only 5 patients underwent a total gastrectomy. In 70 cases the resection which involved en bloc removal of involved part of stomach including adequate proximal and distal free margins, omenta and perigastric lymph nodes and considered absolutely curative in 8 cases being no disease. The overall 5-year-survival figure was 18%. However, taking only the resected cases into account, the 5-year survival rate was 27%. The low survival figure can be attributed to a very small number of early cases encountered.