13 research outputs found
Stimulant use in medical students and residents requires more careful attention
No full textBackground: Stimulant pharmaceuticals are abused among academic students to elevate mood, improve studying, intellectual capacity, memory and concentration, and increase wakefulness. This study was designed to evaluate the current situation of stimulant use among medical students and residents of Babol University of Medical Sciences.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 560 medical students and clinical residents of Babol University of Medical Sciences during the academic year 2014-2015. A self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection.
Results: Four hundred and forty-four (79.3%) students filled out the questionnaires. 49 (11%) individuals reported amphetamine and methylphenidate (ritalin) use. The mean age of the stimulant drug users was 24.6±4.8 years. The main initiator factor was to improve concentration (29 persons; 59.2%). There were significant statistical correlations between stimulant drugs abuse and male gender, living in dormitor in residence and internship and past medical history of psychiatric disorders (depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and substance abuse) (p<0.05).16 (32%) students started the drug use on their friends’ advice; 15 (30%) due to self-medication and 12 (24%) persons with physician´s prescription.
Conclusions: Because of significant prevalence of stimulant use, regulatory governmental policies and also planning to improve essential life skills, awareness about the side effects and complications of these drugs, screening of at-risk college students and early identification of the abusers are suggeste
Improvement in Cognitive Status and Depressive Symptoms Three Months after Cataract Surgery
No full textBackground: Cataract induced vision impairment can lead to loss of older people’s independence and self-esteem and limit their daily activities. Moreover it has comorbid cognitive impairment and depression. Cataract surgery may be one way to attenuate these comorbidities. The aim of this study was to compare pre-operative and postoperative depressive symptoms and cognitive impairments of patients who underwent cataract surgery.
Methods: This study was a before - after clinical trial. Participants completed the following validated surveys one day before and again three months after surgery. Dependent variables were preoperative to postoperative within-patient difference in Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores. Independent variable was improvement of visual acuity.
Results: Mean age was 71.77±8.08, 54% were females. Mean postoperative visual acuity improvement was 0.7720±0.1758, mean GDS score difference was -1.49±1.72 and mean MMSE score difference was 0.28±0.88. Postoperative improvement of visual acuity, GDS and MMSE scores were statistically significant (p=0.001). The mean visual acuity improvement in the participants with age over 80 years was lower than the younger subjects; while improvement in MMSE scores in this age group was significantly higher than them. There were no significant relationship between visual acuity, GDS and MMSE scores before and after surgery based on BMI and educational level.
Conclusions: It was concluded that cataract surgery is effective for relieving depressive symptoms in the elderly. Improved visual acuity at older ages has far more effects on reducing cognitive impairment
Psychological Reactions among Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B: a Qualitative Study
No full textIntroduction: Hepatitis B is the most prevalent type of viral
hepatitis. Psychological reactions among patients with hepatitis B infection is considerably
different and affects their decision about treating and following up the disease. The present
study aims at explaining the psychological demonstrations experienced by these patients.
Methods: In this qualitative study, a total of 18 patients with hepatitis B (8 women and 10
men) were selected by purposive sampling method. Data were collected by unstructured in-depth
interviews during 2014-2015 in the medical centers of three cities in Iran. All interviews
were recorded, typed and analyzed by the conventional content analysis approach. Results: By
analyzing the data, the main theme including psychological instability, with three sub-themes
were emerged: grief reaction (stupor, denial, anger and aggression), emotional challenges
(worry and apprehension, contradiction with beliefs, fear of deprivation, fear of stigma,
waiting for death and prognosis ambiguity) and inferiority complex (social withdrawal, sense
of humiliation and embarrassment and sense of guilt and blame) were acquired. Conclusion: The
findings indicate that patients with hepatitis B experience various psychological reactions
that need to be controlled and managed by themselves or healthcare providers. Thus,
implementation of health interventions with emphasis on psychological care to prevent problems
and execution of educational and consultation programs about hepatitis especially by medical
centers and mass media is seems necessary
Trend of psychological symptoms from pregnancy to postpartum: a prospective study during COVID-19 pandemic
No full textAbstract Psychological symptoms during pregnancy and the postpartum period require special attention, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to evaluate the trajectory of psychiatric symptoms from pregnancy to the postpartum period during the COVID-19 pandemic. This prospective study was conducted at Babol University of Medical Sciences from February 2020 to September 2021. A total of 252 pregnant women completed the Symptom Checklist 25 (SCL-25), the Corona Disease Anxiety Scale, and the Post-Traumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale at both prenatal and postpartum time points. Results indicated that the mean total score of psychological symptoms decreased modestly from pregnancy to postpartum (39.61 ± 11.67 vs. 32.78 ± 12.15, p < 0.001). Additionally, symptoms of somatization, depression, anxiety, and phobia significantly declined from pregnancy to postpartum (p < 0.05). However, levels of depression, anxiety, and phobia remained significantly higher among women with a positive history of COVID-19 infection compared to those without, during both pregnancy and postpartum. While the overall mean score of psychological symptoms showed a slight reduction from pregnancy to postpartum, many symptoms persisted, particularly in individuals with a COVID-19 infection history or post-traumatic stress symptoms. The study recommends that healthcare providers, including obstetricians, nurses, and midwives, implement timely screening and treatment for psychological symptoms from pregnancy through postpartum
Prevalence of Mood Disorders in Mothers Of Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
No full textBackground and purpose: Parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have more problems than parents of normal children due to the prevalence of behavioral abnormalities in children with ADHD. Mood disorders in parents, including mothers can lead to lower tolerance thresholds and the use of punitive methods to control the children, which can cause other complications. Therefore, evaluation of mood disorders and timely treatment could be of great help in treating these children and improving the prognosis of the disease.
Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 125 mothers of children with ADHD attending two psychiatric clinics in Babol, Iran 2014-2016. Data were collected using the Conners' Parent Rating Scales - Revised (CPRS-R) and Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I). Data analysis was done in SPSS V22.
Results: The prevalence of mood disorders in mothers of 6-14 year-old children with ADHD was 44% (n=55). Among the mood disorders, dysthymia (27%) was the most common disorder. Forty-five mothers (36%) had depression and 9 (7.2%) had bipolar disorder.
Conclusion: According to current study, depression was the most common mood disorder in mothers. Maternal depression influences the management of a child with ADHD, so, early diagnosis and treatment of maternal depression play major roles in the prognosis of ADHD in a child with this disorder
Drug Acceptance Rate and Factors Affecting It in Bipolar Patients in Clinics Affiliated to Babol, Iran
No full textBackground:
The present study was conducted considering the relatively high prevalence of bipolar disorder in Iran and the insufficiency of existing studies regarding the acceptance of medication in patients with bipolar disorder. The study also considered the role of cultural issues in this field and the increase in the rate of recurrence and deterioration of the prognosis in the case of nonacceptance of medication.
Aims:
Our purpose of conducting this study was to investigate the level of medication acceptance and determine the factors that cause drug nonacceptance in bipolar patients.
Settings and Design:
This was a cross-sectional study.
Materials and Methods:
The current research is on 100 patients with bipolar disorder referring to psychiatric clinics in Babol, Iran, in the form of convenient sampling. The patients were asked to answer the questions related to doctor–patient communication in the doctor–patient communication questionnaire.
Statistical Analysis Used:
The relationship between doctor–patient communication (independent variable) and both general acceptance and medication acceptance (dependent variables) was analyzed using independent t-test, analysis of variance, and Pearson’s correlation coefficient.
Results:
Fifty-four percent of patients had high medication acceptance. A significant relationship was observed between the level of doctor–patient communication and general acceptance (r = 0.811, P ≤ 0.001) and medication acceptance (r = 0.739, P ≤ 0.001) of patients. According to the findings of this research, general acceptance and medication acceptance (r = 0.804, P ≤ 0.001) have a strong correlation.
Conclusions:
The degree of doctor–patient communication has a strong correlation with general and drug acceptance, which is higher in general acceptance than in drug acceptance, and this means that the higher the level of doctor–patient communication, the higher the general acceptance of patients will be, which will affect public acceptance more
Clinicopathological study on patients presenting with obstructive jaundice
No full textBackground: Obstructive jaundice is frequently encountered surgical disease in the practice. This study is aimed to analyse age and sex distribution and incidence of malignant or benign causes in patients presented with obstructive jaundice. Author thoroughly documented various clinical presentations in these patients, evaluated them for stage of disease and appropriate management modality available for that particular stage.Methods: This is observational study carried out in Department of General Surgery, Hamidia hospital Bhopal on 100 patients over period of 18 months from January 2016 to July 2017.Results: Obstructive jaundice is more prevalent in 5th and 6th decade of life and male to female ratio of 2:3. Abdominal pain (97%) and jaundice (81%) are two common presentations. Malignancy (68%) tends to be more common than benign disease (32%) and among malignancies periampullary carcinoma and advanced GB carcinoma occurs with equal frequency of 32 cases. 46% patients of malignant aetiology presented in stage IV disease. Curative resection for periampullary tumours by whipples procedure was possible in 14% patients. Operative palliation by triple bypass was done in 11% and others were managed by appropriate another palliative modality. Adeno-carcinoma is most common histopathological variant. Choledocholithiasis (28%) is most common benign aetiology and was managed successfully by choledocholithotomy and T-tube insertion.Conclusions: Awareness of common presenting symptoms of obstructive jaundice should be done so that the patient present early for diagnosis and curative surgery and thereby prolonged survival rate. Palliative procedures are commoner than curative resection due to late presentation.</jats:p
Designing, Implementation and Evaluation of the OSCE Exam for Psychiatric Assistants Based on the Topics of the Educational Curriculum
No full textBackground and Objective: Teaching, learning and evaluation in the field of psychiatry has always been considered. During the psychiatric assistantship course, learning the skill of interviewing the patient and prescribing appropriate therapies is one of the highest educational priorities. In this study, an attempt has been made to investigate the effect of the Objective Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE) on improving the skills of residents.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study from the academic year 2015-2016 to 2009-2010, all psychiatry residents were tested weekly by the OSCE method according to the curriculum topics. After the test, the satisfaction of professors and residents was assessed using a questionnaire. Also, the scores of these tests were compared with the scores at the end of the year.
Findings: The mean scores of residents for OSCE and end-of-year exams were 21 ± 3.04 and 125.54 ± 18.48, respectively. Pearson correlation coefficient for the relationship between OSCE score and end-of-year score during these 4 consecutive academic years was r = 0.830 and P <0.001. The results of the survey of professors and assistants showed a high level of satisfaction with the tests.
Conclusion: The relationship between end-of-year scores and OSCE test scores and the results shown in the success of residents in the specialized board exam is evidence of the success of the design and implementation of the OSCE method to improve the skills of residents in OSCE evaluation
Depressive symptoms and psychological distress from antenatal to postnatal period in women with high-risk pregnancy:A prospective study during the COVID-19 pandemic
No full textBackground: The impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on mental disorders in postnatal period remains unknown. Aim: The study aimed to determine the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic may aggravate depressive symptoms and psychological distress of women with high-risk pregnancy in postnatal period. Methods: This prospective cross-sectional study was conducted on women with complicated pregnancies from antenatal to postnatal period. In the first phase, from December 2019 to January 2020 (before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic), 122 pregnant women filled in the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and Brief Symptom Inventory 53-items (BSI-53). In the second phase, with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic from February to June, 30% of the participants (41/122) completed three questionnaires: EPDS, BSI-53, and the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) scale in postpartum period. Results: During the COVID-19 pandemic, from antenatal to postnatal period, the depression score of EPDS, total scores, all the subscales of BSI-53, and global severity index-53 increased in women with high-risk pregnancy. Furthermore, the persistence of antenatal depression occurred in 85.7% of the participants, and the onset of postnatal depression occurred in 80% of them. About 12% of the women also experienced PTSD symptoms during the postnatal period. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic may aggravate the prevalence and persistence of postnatal depression in women with high-risk pregnancy. The study calls for clinical implementation to identify and help women with mental disorders in postnatal period, especially women experiencing complicated pregnancies.</p
