Variation in obsessive-compulsive symptoms between children and adults

The complexity and diversity of clinical manifestations of obsessive-compulsive disorder have intrigued psychiatrists for a long time. Various differences have been noted in the presentation of obsessive-compulsive disorder of different age group. It was aimed to assess the variations of presentation of symptoms in children and adults in a tertiary level hospital. This study was done in an outpatient department from May 2015 to April 2017. Four hundred patients were included in the study consecutively after considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Respondents were interviewed with a semi-structured questionnaire which includes demographic variables, psychiatric diagnoses (DSM-IV-TR) and Y-BOCS symptom checklist. Obsessive-compulsive disorder started before adulthood in 41.5% of patients and onset after 18 years was found to be 58.5%. In this study, cases of obsessions, dirt and contamination was seen to predominate in both early- and late-onset obsessive compulsive disorder (68.3 and 71.4% respectively) and among the cases of compulsions, cleaning variety was found to be highest in both early- and late-onset (65.8 and 73.3% respectively). Age should be taken into account when evaluating obsessive compulsive disorder patients. The results suggest that more studies are necessary to determine whether in fact, it defines a homogeneous and particular group in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Level and Associated Factors of Literacy and Stigma of Suicide among Bangladeshi Physicians: A Cross-Sectional Assessment

Objectives. Literacy and stigma of suicide among doctors affect health-service delivery for persons with suicidal behavior. However, no attempt has been identified to assess those among physicians in Bangladesh. We aimed to determine the level and associated factors of suicide literacy and stigma toward suicide among physicians in Bangladesh. Methods. We collected data from 203 physicians in February 2022 by Google Forms. We used the Bangla literacy of suicide scale (LOSS-B) and the Bangla stigma of suicide scale (SOSS-B) to assess the literacy and stigma of suicide. The instrument also included questions for collecting sociodemographic variables and assessing suicidal behavior. Results. The mean age of the physicians was 34.17±7.86 (range 23–66) years, 109 (53.7%) were females, 150 (73.9%) were married, and 181 (89.2%) were Muslim. The mean LOSS-B score was 5.9±1.96 (range 1-10). Suicide literacy was higher in singles (p=0.013), doctors with a family history of suicide (p=0.018), a history of suicidal thought in lifetime (p≤0.001), and in the last year (p=0.03). Muslims (p=0.017) and city dwellers (p=0.021) had higher scores in the stigma subscale of SOSS-B whilst respondents with history of mental illness had a significantly lower level of stigma (p≤0.006). The stigma and isolation subscales were positively correlated indicating a higher value stigma creates higher isolation (p≤0.001). No relationship between suicide literacy and suicide stigma was identified among the physicians. Conclusions. Suicide literacy among the physicians of Bangladesh is low albeit higher than the level among the students. Appropriate programs should be designed to improve the status quo because physicians play fundamental roles as health-service providers as well as gatekeepers in suicide prevention