Medication compliance in schizophrenic out patients with psychoactive substance use co-morbidity: a cross-sectional study

Background: Medication adherence is an important issue in the treatment and management of persons with psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia. Apart from side effects and inefficient outcomes of psychiatric medications, substance abuse also complicates the adherence pattern to the prescribed medications. Present study was designed to estimate the magnitude of medication non-adherence and its correlates in patients with schizophrenia having co-morbid psychoactive substance use.Method: The 60 schizophrenic patients with active substance use were taken from OPD of institute of mental health and hospital, Agra. Positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS), alcohol, smoking and substance involvement screening test (ASSIST), medication adherence rating scale (MARS) and Morisky 8-item medication adherence questionnaire (MMAQ-8) were used to gather relevant clinical data along with a proforma for recording socio-demographic characteristics.Results: The results revealed an alarming level of medication adherence. The 91.7% sample (55 patients) met the criteria for medication non-adherence. Majority of the patients were using alcohol (58.3%) and cannabis (51.7%). Conclusions: Given the high rate of medication non-compliance it is suggested that specific intervention aimed at compliance to prescribed medication is needed in this population

Scapular dislocation from trivial trauma: a rare case

【Abstract】Dislocation of the scapula between the ribs and into the thoracic cage is a very rare event. Scapulothoracic dissociation though has been reported, usually occurs after a severe injury and is often associated with other serious injuries like brachial plexus or chest injury, etc. Ainscow has described a rare type that may occur due to slight violence with a pre-existing condition. Cases of isolated scapular dislocation after minor trauma have not been reported frequently in the literature. It is a distinct clinical entity and needs to be differentiated from other similar conditions. Here, we present a case of painless scapular dislocation associated with trivial trauma followed by spon-taneous reduction in a 10 years old girl. The patient had a recurrence of the dislocation before presenting to us. But she did not have any pre-existing condition for scapular dislocation. Key words: Scapula; Thorax; Shoulder dislocatio

Resource tangibility and foreign firms’ corporate political strategies in emerging economies: evidence from India

Foreign firms operating in emerging economies are increasingly exploiting and becoming dependent on locally existing intangible resources such as intellectual skills, technological know-how and reputation. Political strategies are used to absorb the external constraints associated with this external dependence. Little is known about the different types of political strategies used by foreign firms in emerging economies and the factors that determine this choice. We draw on Resource Dependence theory to argue that this choice will be influenced by the degree to which foreign firms depend on tangible vs. intangible resources. Using a sample of 105 foreign subsidiaries in India, we find that foreign firms that depend on local intangible resources are more likely to use information-based political strategies, but less likely to provide direct financial incentives to policymakers; whereas firms that depend on local tangibles are less likely to use information-based strategies. Foreign firms that depend on both tangible and intangible resources are more likely to use the constituency building strategy. Our findings enhance our understanding of the factors affecting foreign firms’ political strategy in emerging economies