Sexual problems suggestive of dysfunction, as suggested by FSFI total and domain scores, are highly prevalent in the clinic setting, particularly among women above 40 and those less educated, but confirmation using locally validated cut-off scores of the FSFI is needed.

BACKGROUND According to world drug report, youth from urban settings have been topping the charts for drug abuse. The alarming rate of drug abuse and especially the increase of drug abuse among youngsters has had detrimental effects on the society. There have been very few studies indicating whether the same facts hold true in rural settings too or not. Our study aimed at studying clinical details of substance abuse in adolescents and young adults in a fixed population rural Bangalore. MATERIALS AND METHODS It was a cross sectional study conducted at Nandaguri village, Hoskote Taluq, rural Bangalore, Karnataka. 175 houses, assigned to the community health center, were marked and door to door survey was done. Convenient and purposive sampling were used. The study participants were screened with WHO ASSIST questionnaire. RESULTS 175 individuals between the age groups of 13-30 were screened. 86.9% were males and 13.1% were females. 62.9% of the individuals screened had some substance abuse. 90% of the population screened satisfied lifetime use of substance. CONCLUSION The sample was comparable in terms of age group, gender, type of substance, pattern of usage of substance with the other studies. The study also found significant association between male gender and usage of substance. However, another uniqueness was that there was no significant association between the substances prevalent in the Rural Bangalore and type of family and educational status.

BACKGROUND Stigma is defined as stereotypes or negative views attributed to a person or a group of people, when they are viewed as being different from or inferior to societal norms. Stigma associated with mental illness has chronic, devastating effects. The Centre for Mental Health Services (CMHS) defines serious mental illnesses (SMIs) as those that result in functional impairment that significantly interferes with or limits one or more major life activities. They are schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, other psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder and severe depressive disorder. The aim of the study is to determine as to whether perceived stigma levels are more among patients with severe mental illnesses or their family members. The objectives were to measure stigma levels among patients with severe mental illnesses, and their attenders, and then to compare the two levels in order to arrive at a reasonable conclusion. MATERIALS AND METHODS Semi-structured socio-demographic proforma was used to assess the patients' age, sex, socioeconomic status, occupation and relationship with the caretaker. The Stigma Questionnaire was then administered to both patients and attenders in order assess their perceived stigma level. Settings and Design-This was a cross-sectional, comparative, observational study conducted on fifty patients and their primary caregivers at a tertiary care center in rural Karnataka. Statistical Analysis-Comparisons were made, patient vs. attender group, using mean scores. RESULTS The study concluded that the caretakers of the patient perceived much higher stigma than the patients. The patients perceived maximum stigma in the respect domain, whereas the attenders perceived maximum stigma in the marriage domain. CONCLUSION The patients faced higher levels of self-stigma whereas the attenders perceived public stigma.

Purpose:To assess the effects of transplant renal artery stenosis (TRAS) on blood pressure, renal function, and graft survival. To assess the usefulness of Doppler in predicting the clinical significance of TRAS and also to identify the predictive factors in Doppler that correlated with clinical features of TRAS.Materials and Methods:A prospective study was done on consecutive renal allograft recipients at Christian Medical College, over a period of 66 months from January 2002. All recipients underwent Doppler ultrasound (DUS) evaluation on the fifth post-operative day. Subsequent evaluation was done if the patients had any clinical or biochemical suspicion of TRAS. Angiogram was done in case of a high index of suspicion of significant stenosis or before angioplasty and stenting. The clinical and radiological outcomes of the patients with symptomatic or asymptomatic TRAS were analyzed.Results:Five hundred and forty three consecutive renal allograft recipients were analyzed, of whom, 43 were found to have TRAS. Nine recipients (21%) were detected to have TRAS on first evaluation. All had a high peak systolic velocities (PSV) recorded while 25 of them had other associated features. Patients with only high PSV required no further intervention and were followed up. They had a pretransplant mean arterial pressure (MAP) of 107.83 mmHg (SD = 13.32), ranging from 90 to 133 mm Hg and a posttransplant MAP of 106.56 mmHg (SD =16.51), ranging from 83 to 150 mm Hg. Their mean nadir serum creatinine was 1.16 mg% (SD = 0.24), at detection was 1.6 mg% (SD = 1.84) and at 6 months follow-up was 1.26 mg% (SD=0.52). Of the remaining 25 patients with other associated Doppler abnormalities, 11 required further intervention in the form of re-exploration in 2, angioplasty in 3 and stenting in 6 patients. One patient in the group of patients intervened, expired in the immediate post-operative period due to overwhelming urosepsis and consumption coagulopathy. The mean creatinine clearance (Cockroft-Gault method) in this group of remaining 10 patients, before and after intervention was 44.75 ml/min (SD=17.85) and 68.96 ml/min (SD = 10.56), respectively, with a mean increase by 24.21 ml/min (P=0.000). The mean arterial pressure before and after intervention in this group were 132.80 mm Hg (SD = 13.22) and 102 mm Hg (SD = 10.55), with a decline in the MAP by 30.80 mmHg (P=0.017). The haemoglobin levels also increased from 11.72 (SD=2.13) to 12.48 gm% (SD = 1.75), with a mean increase by 0.76 gm% (P=0.05).Conclusions:Patients with isolated high PSV do not have a significant alteration of blood pressure or allograft function and required no intervention. Although high PSV with associated Doppler anomalies are more suggestive of significant TRAS, the decision regarding surgical intervention is largely based on clinical assessment.

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