RESUMO
Objective: to compare the frequency of depressive symptoms in both genders among the depressive patients at a psychiatric clinic of tertiary care hospital
Study design: cross sectional study
Setting: department of Psychiatry, Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Center, Karachi
Duration: six months [Nov-2006 to May 2007]
Subjects and methods: a sample of 100 new consecutive patients including both the genders coming to the researcher's consulting room was assessed for caseness of depression. Diagnosis was made by using ICD-10 Diagnostic Criteria for Research. Diagnosed patients were then seen for the severity of illness by rating them on Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression [HRSD]andand
Results: analysis indicated that among the psychological symptoms, feeling sad was the most common seen in 34% of the patients. In males, compared to females, hopelessness and lack of confidence was predominant [11.8% vs 1.5%], while high proportions of females, compared to male patients, complaint of irritability [27.3% vs 8.8%] and feeling like crying all the time [34.8% vs 14.7%]. Among the somatic complaints headache was the most common reported by 39% of patients, which was significantly higher in females than males [47.0 vs 23.5%]
Conclusion: men and women in this study reported similar patterns and severity symptoms of depression. No evidence that presentation of depressive symptoms differs by gender was found. Understanding of phenomenology is a major tool to aid in early detection and diagnosis of depression
RESUMO
The study was aimed to see the effectiveness of a new antipsychotic drug, Aripiprazole in reducing symptoms of schizophrenia. It was an interventional quasi experimental study. Data was collected from Institute of Psychiatry Baqai Medical University, Department of Psychiatry Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Department of Psychiatry Pakistan Air Force Hospital Masroor, during July-December 2006 Forty schizophrenic patients, diagnosed according to ICD-10 criteria, of both genders between 15 -50 years of age were included in this study. Patients with co-morbidity were excluded. After initial assessment, patients were switched over to aripiprazole 15-30 mg. Clinical Global Impression Scale, was used to measure the treatment response. Patients were followed fortnightly for a period of three months. Twenty-two patients [55%] showed a significant clinical improvement initially. Eighteen patients [45%] did not show the improvement sufficient to decide about continuation of medicine. Four patients were dropped as they did not turn up. A statistically significant difference was observed in baseline and at 12th week CGI- scale with a P value of <0.01. The drug was as effective as Haloperidol. Effective dose was 30 mg daily