Beliefs about causes of psychotic disorders and subsequent help-seeking behaviour in caregivers presenting at the Department of Psychiatry, Civil Hospital, Karachi.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the beliefs about causes of psychotic disorders and subsequent help-seeking behaviour in caregivers. Methods: The descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Psychiatry, Civil Hospital, Karachi, from September 2020 to February 2021, and comprised caregivers of patients with psychotic disorders. Data was collected using a questionnaire that was filled up by caregivers mentioning their beliefs about the cause of the disorder and subsequent help-seeking behaviour. Data was analysed using SPSS 22. RESULTS: Of the 162 participants, 69(42.6%) were male and 93(52.4%) were female. The overall mean age was 39.9+12.9 years. The majority 157(96.9%) subjects were Muslims. In terms of beliefs, anxious personality 62(38.3%), evil eye 62(38.3%) and God's will 56(34.6%) were the major choices picked. With respect to help-seeking behaviour, the choices most picked were taking the patient to a psychiatrist 129(79.6%), praying 108(66.6%) and taking the patient to a family physician 103(63.6%). CONCLUSIONS: There was found to be sufficient awareness among the caregivers, but help-seeking behaviour needed to improve considerably.

Prevalence of Migraine among patients of Depressive Disorder.

OBJECTIVE: To find out the prevalence of Migraine among patients of Depressive Disorder. METHODS: A descriptive cross sectional study, conducted at Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, JPMC, Karachi from 1st January 2014 to 30th June 2014. Total 272 patients were enrolled in the study. Depressive disorder was diagnosed as per ICD-10 criteria and Migraine headache as ICHD-2 criteria for diagnosis. RESULTS: A total of 272 patients with mean age of 31.85 ± 8.7 were enrolled. Out of 272 cases 64% were females; Out of total cases 86.4% were married. Migraine with aura was seen among 6.6% and migraine without aura was present among 26.1%. Migraine was linked more with females and married and of those having severe Depressive disorder. CONCLUSION: Migraine headache is common among depressed people, particularly females and having severe depression, so it ought to be remembered that while looking for Depressive disorder or headache the other condition must be remembered.

Frequency and pattern of common primary headache among depressed patients at tertiary care centre, Karachi.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of co-morbid common primary headaches among depressed patients. METHODS: This study was conducted at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi, from July to December 2014, and comprised depressed patients. Diagnosis of depressive disorder was based on diagnostic criteria of International Classification of Diseases (10th version). For the diagnosis of common primary headaches, International Classification of Headache Disorders (2nd edition) criteria were applied. SPSS 17 was used for data analysis. RESULTS: Of the 331 participants, 129(39%) were males and 202(61%) were females. The overall mean age was 31.40±8.6 years (range: 18-50 years). Besides, 208(62.83%) participants had no headache and 123(37.16%) had common primary headaches. Of the latter, 18(5.4%) had migraine with aura, 49(14.8%) had migraine without aura and 56(16.9%) had tension-type headache. Common primary headaches were more common in females and among those having severe depressive disorder. CONCLUSIONS: The primary headache was common among outpatients with depressive disorder, predominantly tension-type headache and migraine without aura.