Stigmatising attitude of medical students towards a psychiatry label

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Detection of mental disorders with the Patient Health Questionnaire in primary care settings in Nigeria

Mental disorders lead to difficulties in social, occupational and marital relations. Failure to detect mental disorder denies patients potentially effective treatment. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and nature of mental disorders at the primary care settings and the recognition of these disorders by the attending physicians. Over a period of eight weeks, consecutive and consenting patients who attended three randomly selected primary health care facilities in Sagamu Local Government Area of Ogun state were recruited and administered a questionnaire that included a socio-demographic section and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ). A total of 412 subjects took part in the study. Subject age ranged from 18-90 years with a mean age of 52.50±21.08 years. One hundred and seventy- six (42.7%) of the subjects were males. A total of 120 (29.1%) of the subjects had depressive disorder, 100 (24.3%) had anxiety disorder, 196 (47.6%) somatoform disorder and 104 (25.2%) met the criteria for an alcohol related problem. The PHC physicians were only able to diagnose disorders relating to mental health in 52 (12.6%) of the subjects. Health and work situations accounted for more than three-quarters of the causes of stress experienced by the subjects. We conclude that there is a high prevalence of mental disorders among patients seen in primary care settings and that a significant proportion of them are not recognized by the primary care physicians. Stress relating to health, work and financial problems is common among primary health care attendees. Physicians in primary health care should be alert to the possibility and the impact of undetected psychiatric morbidity

A Comparative Study of HIV/AIDS: The Knowledge, Attitudes, and Risk Behaviors of Schizophrenic and Diabetic Patients in Regard to HIV/AIDS in Nigeria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Context</p> <p>Studies on knowledge and risk behaviors related to HIV/AIDS reported from developed countries have shown that people with psychiatric disorders constitute a special risk group. In Nigeria, although similar studies have been conducted on various population groups, there has, so far, been no reported study on people suffering from psychiatric disorders.</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>The present study set out to compare knowledge, attitudes, and risk behaviors related to HIV/AIDS among schizophrenic patients and diabetic patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Ninety-eight consecutive schizophrenic patients attending the outpatient clinics of a psychiatric hospital over a period of 8 weeks completed an interviewer's administered questionnaire. The interview covered demographics, risk behaviors, knowledge related to HIV/AIDS, and patients' attitudes toward people infected with HIV/AIDS. Their responses were compared with those of 56 diabetic patients who were similarly interviewed in a teaching hospital.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Compared with the diabetic patients, the schizophrenic patients were significantly less sexually active in the previous 12 months (<it>P </it>< .05). They had more misconceptions about HIV/AIDS and were less tolerant towards people living with HIV/AIDS compared with the diabetic patients. They were also more likely to engage in high-risk behaviors.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Mental health providers rarely educate psychiatric patients about HIV/AIDS and should be more involved in doing so. Despite being less sexually active, patients with schizophrenia engaged in risk behaviors as did the diabetic patients.</p