Assessment of mental health problems among adolescents in Sri Lanka : Findings from the cross-sectional Global School-based Health Survey

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors wish to thank the World Health Organization and CDC for making the Global School-based Health Survey data publicly available. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the Ministry of Health in Sri Lanka for efforts on planning and collecting the data nationally, and thank all the participating schools, students, and other institutions for their contributions. The first author also thanks Dr Christine Kay from the School of Medicine, the University of Aberdeen and Stephanie Whiteman from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados,for constructive feedback. FUNDING Gajarishiyan Rasalingam was supported by the Chevening Scholarships, the UK government’s global scholarship program, funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and partner organizations. The University of Aberdeen Post Graduate Training supported the project, and the University of Aberdeen Open Access Fund supported the open access publicationPeer reviewedPostprintPublisher PD

Delayed anxiety and depressive morbidity among dengue patients in a multi-ethnic urban setting: first report from Sri Lanka

Abstract Background Although the physical consequences of dengue are well documented, delayed psychological co-morbidities are not well studied to date. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to determine the prevalence of depressive, anxiety and stress symptoms among past dengue patients. Methods A community-based, case–control study in a multi-ethnic urban setting was conducted in Sri Lanka involving adults who were diagnosed to have dengue fever by a positive dengue IgM antibody response between 6 and 24 months ago. Self-administered Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD-20) and a structured clinical interview by a psychiatrist were done in the patients and in an age and gender-matched control group. Results Fifty-three participants each in the patient (mean age 42.9 years, SD 15.5) and control (mean age 41.6 years, SD 15.3) groups were surveyed. The ages ranged from 18 to 70 years and 64.2% were females. The majority (90.6%; n = 48) of the individuals had been diagnosed with dengue fever followed by dengue haemorrhagic fever (9.4% n = 5). Dengue patients had higher DASS-21 mean depressive scores (means 11.7/9.4, SD 6.4/4.0, t = 2.2, p = .028), anxiety scores (means 10.7/7.2, SD 6.8/1.8, t = 3.6, p = .0005), stress scores (means 12.0/8.8, SD 5.3/3.5, t = 3.6, p = .0004) and CESD-20 scores (means 16.1/11.7, SD 9.4/7.3, t = 2.6, p = .008) than controls. The DSM-5 depressive disorder was clinically detected by the psychiatrist among 15.1 and 7.5% in patient and control groups (OR 2.1; CI .5–7.7; p = .22). Limitations: a limitation is the small sample size. Conclusion Patients with past dengue had significantly higher depressive, anxiety and stress symptoms than the control group according to the DASS-21 and CESD-20 tools. To our knowledge, this is the first report on delayed psychological morbidity related to dengue. This may warrant healthcare professionals to incorporate mental counselling for dengue patients

Additional file 1: of Topiramate’s effectiveness on weight reduction in overweight/obese persons with schizophrenia: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

SPIRIT 2013 checklist: recommended items to address in a clinical trial protocol. (DOC 120 kb

Role of pets and animal assisted therapy in suicide prevention

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