This study demonstrates that in Asia, despite variations in the initial symptom reported by the patients, across different countries/territories, core depressive symptoms remain the same. Variations have been found in presentation of depressive symptoms with regards to the level of income of countries. Physical or vegetative symptoms were reported more by centers in higher income countries, while depressive cognition and suicidal thoughts/acts were more frequently reported from lower income countries.
Introduction: Hospital-based community psychiatric service (HCPS) is a developing intervention in Malaysia targeted for patients with severe mental illnesses (SMIs). Its effectiveness had not been systematically measured. This study aimed to assess the outcome of HCPS with respect to re-hospitalization and factors associated with low re-hospitalization among patients with schizophrenia in the metropolitan city of Kuala Lumpur. Methods: A naturalistic and retrospective cohort study was conducted using within-subject pre-post design on 155 patients with schizophrenia who received HCPS in Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL). The selection was made by simple random sampling. The hospital admission profiles were obtained from clinical records. The socio-demographic and relevant clinical data were also assessed through clinical interviews. Results: One hundred and forty (90%) of 155 respondents had low rate of hospital admission with significant reduction of being hospitalized within 1 year after receiving HCPS (p < 0.001). Having good social support was significantly associated with lower rate of rehospitalization (p = 0.001). Discussion: The study revealed the effectiveness of HCPS in terms of reducing rates of hospital admission among patients with schizophrenia in Malaysia. The finding may be used as an evidence to develop the service further in other hospitals. However, the finding needs to be replicated through studies with better design involving more psychiatric centres.
Introduction: Schizophrenia is a chronic mental illness with clusters of symptoms, including cognitive impairment. This study aimed to explore the effect of Tualang Honey (TH) on cognitive domains, especially as it pertained to the verbal memory of schizophrenia patients. Method: This was a cross-sectional study involved 80 individuals, diagnosed with schizophrenia. The Malay Version Auditory Verbal Learning Test (MVAVLT) was used. Data were analysed using SPSS 20.0 software. Intention to treat analysis was applied. Result: A comparison of the total learning score at eight weeks between the two groups based on time effect and time-treatment interaction favoured TH group.
Conclusion:This study concludes that by supplementing schizophrenia patients with 8-week of TH did improve total learning performance across domains in the immediate memory among patients with schizophrenia.
This study aims to provide an overview of mental health problems of children and adolescents in Malaysia in general and the state of Terengganu in particular. It also highlights the challenges and the opportunities in the establishment of child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). CAMHS in Malaysia are developing slowly but have not reached the standards found in developed countries. Significant improvements are needed to ensure that the service can provide optimal help to children and adolescent as well as their families. Constraining factors such as a lack of trained workers, limited financial resources for training and inadequate facilities are among the challenges. Despite all these challenges, specific strategies are required to optimally utilise the potential existing resources. The Ministry of Health initiatives in creating and implementing the national mental health policy and increasing mental health awareness campaigns for children and adolescents are of paramount importance. To overcome the lack of resources in the implementation of CAMH services, in-service education and training, integration of mental health services with the existing primary health care facilities and cultivation of cooperative and communicative networks between primary care professionals, mental health workers and other relevant agencies are crucial steps.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.