Bullying and Victimization Trends in Undergraduate Medical Students - A Self-Reported Cross-Sectional Observational Survey.

INTRODUCTION: Bullying is a form of behaviour that can negatively impact a person. It can lead to several deleterious consequences like low self-confidence, drop in academic performance and depression. Studies have shown that bullying behaviour exists amongst medical students also. In the medical field, it is known to negatively impact dispensing of health care and attitudes of medical students towards becoming doctors. It is very difficult for medical students to cope with such a menace as they are already burdened with a vast curriculum and rigorous schedules. There exists paucity of studies regarding bullying amongst undergraduate medical students in Indian context. AIM: To study prevalence of peer-based bullying and victimization along with their associated factors in undergraduate medical students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four hundred randomly chosen undergraduate medical students were included in the study. Socio-demographic and personal details including history of substance use were recorded in a self-designed case record form. Illinois Bullying Scale was used to assess bullying behaviours. Out of total 400 students, 383 completed the survey and this data was analysed. RESULTS: In this study, 98.69% participants self-reported to having indulged in bullying while 88.77% reported feeling victimized. Physical (p<0.001) as well as verbal (p=0.001) bullying was found to be of significantly greater severity in males as compared to females. Students of the third year of medical school indulged in significantly (p=0.034) greater severity of physical bullying than those of other years. Alcohol consumption (p=0.001) and cigarette smoking (p<0.001) were significantly associated with physical bullying. CONCLUSION: Peer-based bullying and victimization was found to be highly prevalent amongst undergraduate medical students. There is an urgent need for more detailed studies on bullying in medical students so that remedial measures can be initiated and steps to limit such behaviours can be looked at seriously.

Prevalence of Mobile Phone Dependence in Secondary School Adolescents.

INTRODUCTION: Mobile phones have become an essential part of modern human life. They have many attributes which makes them very attractive to both young and old. There has been an increasing trend of use of mobile phones among students. Data has now started emerging with respect to the negative physical and psychological consequences of excessive use of mobile phones. New research has shown excessive use of mobile phones leading to development of symptoms suggestive of dependence syndrome. AIM: To study the prevalence of Mobile Phone Dependence (MPD) in secondary school adolescents. SETTING AND DESIGN: Cross-sectional, observational study conducted in secondary section of English-medium schools at Navi Mumbai (India). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four hundred and fifteen students studying in 8(th), 9(th) and 10(th) standards of schools at Navi Mumbai (India) having personal mobile phone were randomly included in the study. Participant information like age, gender, family type, phone type, duration of use per day and years of mobile phone usage was recorded. They were administered an MPD questionnaire based upon the dependence syndrome criteria as per ICD-10. According to their responses, participants who fulfilled three or more of the diagnostic criteria were rated as having MPD. RESULTS: Mobile Phone Dependence was found in 31.33% of sample students. It was significantly associated with gender (p=0.003, OR=1.91, CI: 1.23-2.99), family type (p=0.0012), type of mobile phone used (p<0.001, OR=2.6, CI: 1.63-4.35), average time per day spent using mobile phone (p<0.001) and years of mobile phone usage (p =0.004, OR=2.4, CI: 1.31-4.55). CONCLUSION: Mobile Phone Dependence has been found to be an emerging public health problem. There is need to recognize and identify early the growing trends and negative consequences of inappropriate mobile phone use in young users so as to generate awareness, and plan educational and treatment interventions, if need be, so as to prevent a major public health concern.

Which is A More Debilitating Disorder Schizophrenia or Dysthymia? - A Comparative Study.

INTRODUCTION: Schizophrenia and Dysthymia are debilitating disorders that affect general health and functioning. Studies show that both vastly affect the quality of life (QOL) of patients and cause great amount of disability. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate and compare the QOL and Disability between patients with Schizophrenia and Dysthymia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross sectional, observational, comparative study was done in a randomly chosen sample of 30 outpatients each of schizophrenia and dysthymia. QOL was assessed using WHOQOL-BREF scale and disability was assessed using the Indian Disability Evaluation and Assessment Scale (IDEAS). RESULTS: Patients of schizophrenia showed greater disability and poorer QOL than patients of dysthymia. The 'Social Relationships' domain of the WHOQOL-BREF scale was the worst affected domain in both groups of patients. Patients with dysthymia also did significantly (p=0.040) better in the 'Psychological' domain; while patients with schizophrenia were significantly (p=0.029) better in the 'Physical Health' domain. Patients with schizophrenia showed greater disability than patients with dysthymia in all the 4 domains of the IDEAS, significantly in the areas of Self care (p<0.001) and Communication-Understanding (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Schizophrenia is a more debilitating disorder than Dysthymia. This assumes significance when planning rehabilitation models for these disorders.

People see what papers show! Psychiatry's stint with print media: A pilot study from Mumbai, India.

Mass media including television, internet, and newspapers influences public views about various issues by means of how it covers an issue. Newspapers have a wider reach and may affect the impact that a news story has on the reader by factors such as placement of the story within the different pages. We did a pilot study to see how two English newspapers from Mumbai, India were covering psychiatry related news stories. The study was done over a period of 3 months. We found a total of 870 psychiatry related news stories in the two newspapers over 3 months with the majority of them being covered in the main body of the newspapers. Sex-related crime stories and/or sexual dysfunction stories received the highest coverage among all the news while treatment and/or recovery related stories received very little coverage. It is crucial that the print media takes more efforts in improving reporting of psychiatry-related stories and help in de-stigmatizing psychiatry as a discipline.

Prevalence of parent-rated attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and associated parent-related factors in primary school children of Navi Mumbai--a school based study.

OBJECTIVES: To study the prevalence of parent-rated attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and associated parent-related factors in primary school children of Navi Mumbai. METHODS: One hundred twenty two children including both boys and girls aged between 6 y and 11 y were selected from a school at Navi Mumbai and their parents were given the National Innovative for Children's Healthcare Quality (NICHQ) Vanderbilt Assessment Scale to be filled and returned, which was subsequently analyzed using SPSS (version 16). RESULTS: The prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder was 12.3 % with boy to girl ratio of 3:2. It was more prevalent in nuclear type of family and in families where a single parent was working especially where the father was the sole breadwinner and doing semi-skilled or unskilled type of work. No significant relation was found between the numbers of work-related hours when parents were away from children and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. CONCLUSIONS: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is prevalent in the primary school-going population of Navi Mumbai, especially in boys. The increased prevalence in nuclear families and families with single working parent should further be explored. Further studies with larger sample size and longer period of follow up may be recommended. The study also recommends screening of school children for symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) for early diagnosis and treatment.

Depression during pregnancy: Prevalence and obstetric risk factors among pregnant women attending a tertiary care hospital in Navi Mumbai.

CONTEXT: Depression affects about 20% of women during their lifetime, with pregnancy being a period of high vulnerability. Prevalence of depression during pregnancy ranges from 4% to 20%. Several risk factors predispose to depression during pregnancy including obstetric factors. Depression during pregnancy is not only the strongest risk factor for post-natal depression but also leads to adverse obstetric outcomes. AIMS: To study the prevalence of depression during pregnancy and its associated obstetric risk factors among pregnant women attending routine antenatal checkup. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Cross-sectional observational survey done at the outpatient department (OPD) of the department of obstetrics of a tertiary care hospital in Navi Mumbai. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and eighty-five pregnant women were randomly administered the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) for detecting depression. Additional socio-demographic and obstetric history was recorded and analyzed. RESULTS: Prevalence of depression during pregnancy was found to be 9.18% based upon BDI, and it was significantly associated with several obstetric risk factors like gravidity (P = 0.0092), unplanned pregnancy (P = 0.001), history of abortions (P = 0.0001), and a history of obstetric complications, both present (P = 0.0001) and past (P = 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Depression during pregnancy is prevalent among pregnant women in Navi-Mumbai, and several obstetric risk factors were associated to depression during pregnancy. Future research in this area is needed, which will clearly elucidate the potential long-term impact of depression during pregnancy and associated obstetric risk factors so as to help health professionals identify vulnerable groups for early detection, diagnosis, and providing effective interventions for depression during pregnancy.

Spirituality and religion in modern medicine.

Man has always yearned for a higher sense of belonging in life. Since ancient ages, human beings have tried to examine and evaluate the relationship between spirituality, religion and medicine. The interface of spirituality, quality of life and mental health is fascinating and sublime. Religion and spirituality play an essential role in the care giving of patients with terminal illnesses and chronic medical conditions. Patient's needs, desires and perspectives on religion and spirituality should be addressed in standard clinical care. Ongoing research in medical education and curriculum design points towards the inclusion of competence, communication and training in spirituality. There are structured and reliable instruments available for assessing the relationship between spirituality, religion and health in research settings. Intervention based scientific studies in the arena of spirituality and modern medicine are needed. Further research should be directed towards making modern medicine more holistic.