Psychiatric morbidity among physically ill patients in a Ugandan Regional Referral Hospital

Background: Mental illness is a global health burden that remains poorly understood even by health care providers. It is important to get insight of the prevalence, clinical features and management of psychiatric morbidity in general practice in Uganda as it affects treatment outcome.Objective: To determine the prevalence, types and associations of psychiatric morbidity as seen among adult in-patients on medical and surgical wards of Mbarara Regional Referral hospital as a prototype Ugandan regional referral hospital. Methods: This was a cross sectional descriptive study. Psychiatric diagnosis was arrived at by administering the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) as the diagnostic instrument.Results: Of the 258 participants in this study, 109 (42%) met criteria for at least one DSM IV psychiatric diagnosis. Only 6% of all the psychiatrically diagnosed patients were recognized by their treating doctors as having mental illness.Conclusion: The psychiatric disorders on the general medical and surgical wards are highly prevalent and not recognized by staff on these wards despite their common occurrence. There is need for sensitisation of staff on recognition and management of psychiatric disorders in physical illness

Psychological distress among adults admitted to medical and surgical wards of a Regional Referral Hospital, Uganda

Background: Physical illness is commonly associated with psychological distress that may be a direct effect of the illness or an adjustment in coping with the physical illness or its treatment. Little is known about psychological distress of patients on general wards in developing countries.Objectives: This study aimed to determine the extent and associations of psychological distress among adult in-patients on medical and surgical wards of Mbarara hospital in Uganda.Methods: It was a cross sectional descriptive study among 258 adult in-patients. The WHO endorsed self report questionnaire (SRQ-25) was used to assess psychological distress with a cut off of 5/6. The MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) was used to identify specific psychiatric disorders. Cross-tabulations and multivariate analysis was used to analyze the relationship between psychological distress and different factors.Results: One hundred and fifty eight individuals (61%) had psychological distress. One hundred and nine (42%) met criteria for at least one major psychiatric diagnosis. Only 6% of these were recognized by the attending health workers. Psychological distress was significantly associated with previous hospitalizations, ward of admission and marital status.Conclusions: There is a high level of psychological distress among the physically ill and it is often unrecognized and untreated.Key words: psychological distress, physical illness, psychiatri

Psychological distress among adults admitted to medical and surgical wards of a Regional Referral Hospital, Uganda

Background: Physical illness is commonly associated with psychological distress that may be a direct effect of the illness or an adjustment in coping with the physical illness or its treatment. Little is known about psychological distress of patients on general wards in developing countries. Objective: This study aimed to determine the extent and associations of psychological distress among adult in-patients on medical and surgical wards of Mbarara hospital in Uganda. Method:It was a cross sectional descriptive study among 258 adult in-patients. The WHO endorsed self report questionnaire (SRQ-25) was used to assess psychological distress with a cut off of 5/6. The MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) was used to identify specific psychiatric disorders. Cross-tabulations and multivariate analysis was used to analyze the relationship between psychological distress and different factors. Interclass correlations (ICC) were computed using two-way mixed models. Results:One hundred and fifty eight individuals (61%) had psychological distress. One hundred and nine (42%) met criteria for at least one major psychiatric diagnosis. Only 6% of these were recognized by the attending health workers. Psychological distress was significantly associated with previous hospitalizations, ward of admission and marital status. Conclusion:There is a high level of psychological distress among the physically ill and it is often unrecognized and untreated