Depression among hospitalized and non-hospitalized gonadal cancer patients in tertiary care public hospitals in Karachi

The study aimed at determining the differences in the levels of depression between hospitalized and non-hospitalized Gonadal cancer patients in tertiary care public hospitals in Karachi. The present study was conducted at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and Civil Hospital, Karachi, from July to October 2009. One hundred adult patients diagnosed with Gonadal cancer volunteered for the study. Cases with any other co-morbidity were excluded. Urdu version of Siddiqui Shah Depression Scale [SSDS] was administered. Purposive and snowball sampling methods were used for data collection. The ages of participants in the sample ranged from 20 to 27 years with the mean age of 23.85 years. The participants belonged to the lower and middle classes. Out of the 30 hospitalized gonadal cancer patients 40% were moderately depressed and 60% were severely depressed, whereas out of 70 non-hospitalized gonadal cancer patients 74.3% were mildly depressed, 24.3% were moderately depressed and only 1.4% were severely depressed, which clearly indicated that the depression level of hospitalized gonadal cancer patients was high as compared to non-hospitalized gonadal cancer patients

Percieved social support and vulnerability to anxiety / depressive symptoms in boarders and day scholars

The present study was conducted to investigate the differences in the levels of depression, anxiety and social support among boarders and day scholars. It was hypothesized that: [1] Boarders will be more depressed and anxious as compared to the day scholars. [2] Individuals scoring high on AKUADS will perceive less social support than the individuals scoring in the normal range. The sample consisted of 80 students [40 boarders and 40 day scholars] aged between 18 to 25 years enrolled in Honors and Masters Programs in various departments of Arts. The sample was selected from University of Karachi by using convenient sampling technique. Aga Khan University Anxiety Depression Scale [AKUADS] and Multidimensional Scale for Perceived Social Support [MSPPS] were administered to both the groups. 't' test was applied to find out the statistical significance of the results using statistical package for social sciences [SPSS 12 version]. According to the results of the study boarders were found to be more depressed and anxious as compared to day scholars [t = 2.258 p<.027], and level of social support was found to be low in boarders as compared to day scholars [t = -11.666, p< .000]

Depression as a function of social support in HIV patients

The aim of the present study was to determine whether lack of social support leads to depression in HIV patients or not. It was hypothesized that: [1] there would be low level of social support and high level of depressive symptoms in HIV patients, and [2] there would be strong negative relationship between the overall depression scores of the patients and their scores on the esteem subscale of the social support scale. The sample comprised of 50 HIV patients aged between 20 to 25 years, with at least secondary school education. Sample was selected from different organizations of Karachi. Siddiqui Shah Depression Scale [1997] and Social Support Scale [2005] were administered on the patients. Pearson Product correlation and descriptive statistic including frequency and percentages, was applied for the statistical analysis of the data using statistical package for social sciences [SPSS 12 version]. Results reflect that a number of patients score in high range on measure of depression [96%], while 66% of them perceive the social support, and 70% of them perceive the esteem support they receive as low. The results indicated strong negative correlation between levels of depression and social support in HIV patients [r = - .672, p< .05]. Moreover, analysis of the results also showed that HIV patients with low esteem score on social support scale showed high depressivescores [r = - .627, p< .05]

gender comparative study of emotional intelligence in employees of multinational companies of Karachi

The present study investigates the difference between the emotional intelligence of males and females. The sample consisted of 50 individuals divided into two groups of 25 males and 25 females respectively, employed with five multinational organizations in Karachi, Pakistan; designated at the higher and middle management levels. It was predicted that men will score higher on emotional intelligence [EI] scale than women. For quantitative analysis, the t-test was applied. Findings did not reveal any significant difference in the mean comparative scores of the two groups