Factors affecting the reporting of mental disorder in others

The paper describes a study demonstrating that the screening of a few members of the population and asking them about the distribution of psychiatric symptoms in total population is a very inadequate way of discovering the real prevalence rates. The analysis shows that people report symptoms more amongst those who are socially and geographically close to them and amongst the members of their own sex. The characteristics of the 'reporters' are analysed and the results show that the young, the rich, the highly educated and those belonging to more advanced sections of the society are more prone to reporting symptoms in others. The most interesting finding is that those who have psychiatric symptoms themselves report symptoms in others more than those who are symptom-free

Indian psychiatric interview schedule (IPIS)

The paper discusses the advantages of the structured interview in psychiatric research and goes on to describe the details of development of a structured interview Schedule (IPIS) suitable for an Indian setting. The Schedule is described, as well as the results of interinvestigator reliability tests. Possible uses of the instrument and the necessary further developments are outlined

Indian psychiatric survey schedule (IPSS)

The paper describes the development of Indian Psychiatric Survey Schedule (IPSS) which is designed to inquire about the presence of 124 psychiatric symptoms and 10 items of historical information in the general population. The symptoms as well as the items of historical information are the same as those in IPIS (Kapur et al., 1974) but because of a multi-stage procedure adopted with IPSS, the inquiry takes much less time than that for IPIS. - A "preliminary interview schedule" which is meant for all members of the population can be used by a nonpsychiatrist after a short period of training. The other sections in IPSS, that is "detailed inquiry with the subject", "detailed inquiry with an informant" and "observations during interview" are completed when necessary by a trained psychiatrist who also gives a physical examination when somatic symptoms are reported. - The paper describes the reasons why a multi-stage procedure was designed, a pilot study which helped reach certain decisions regarding the construction of the schedule and the results of a study carried out to test the level of agreement obtained when three non-psychiatrists (after a short period of training) and a psychiatrist used the preliminary interview schedule with 40 hospital patients and 40 members of the general population

Novel duplex vapor electrochemical method for silicon solar cells

Progress in the development of low-cost solar arrays is reported. Topics covered include: (1) development of a simplified feed system for the Na used in the Na-SiF4 reactor; (2) production of high purity silicon through the reduction of sodium fluosilicate with sodium metal; (3) the leaching process for recovering silicon from the reaction products of the SiF4-Na reaction; and (4) silicon separation by the melting of the reaction product

MENTAL MORBIDITY AMONG GRADUATE AND RESEARCH STUDENTS : AN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDY

A cross sectional epidemiological study of mental morbidity among 1160 postgraduate and research students was done by census method. Goldberg's 60 item GHQ was used as screening tool and a person scoring 12 and above was taken as a case. The response rate was 92.5%. A prevalence rate of 16.63 was found. The relationship between mental morbidity and selected socio-demographic, motivational psychological variables; certain life experiences in the campus was studied. The results are discussed. This study is first of its kind in our country

Screening of patients with tuberculosis for diabetes mellitus in China.

Objective  There is a high burden of both diabetes (DM) and tuberculosis (TB) in China, and this study aimed to assess feasibility and results of screening patients with TB for DM within the routine healthcare setting of six health facilities. Method  Agreement on how to screen, monitor and record was reached in May 2011 at a stakeholders' meeting, and training was carried out for staff in the six facilities in July 2011. Implementation started in September 2011, and we report on 7 months of activities up to 31 March 2012. Results  There were 8886 registered patients with TB. They were first asked whether they had DM. If the answer was no, they were screened with a random blood glucose (RBG) followed by fasting blood glucose (FBG) in those with RBG ≥ 6.1 mm (one facility) or with an initial FBG (five facilities). Those with FBG ≥ 7.0 mm were referred to DM clinics for diagnostic confirmation with a second FBG. Altogether, 1090 (12.4%) patients with DM were identified, of whom 863 (9.7%) had a known diagnosis of DM. Of 8023 patients who needed screening for DM, 7947 (99%) were screened. This resulted in a new diagnosis of DM in 227 patients (2.9% of screened patients), and of these, 226 were enrolled to DM care. In addition, 575 (7.8%) persons had impaired fasting glucose (FBG 6.1 to <7.0 mm). Prevalence of DM was significantly higher in patients in health facilities serving urban populations (14.0%) than rural populations (10.6%) and higher in hospital patients (13.5%) than those attending TB clinics (8.5%). Conclusion  This pilot project shows that it is feasible to screen patients with TB for DM in the routine setting, resulting in a high yield of patients with known and newly diagnosed disease. Free blood tests for glucose measurement and integration of TB and DM services may improve the diagnosis and management of dually affected patients