Background The burden of psychological distress is increasing with the spread of the pandemic and also with the enforcement of its containment measures. The aim of this research was to determine the proportion of self-reported psychological distress, loneliness and degrees of resilient coping, and to also investigate the relationship of loneliness, coping and other variables with psychological distress among apparently healthy Indians during nation-wide lockdown period. Methods A cross-sectional, region-stratified survey using pre-designed pre-tested Google form disseminated via different social media platforms was conducted. A total of 1249 responses were analysed all over India. The form enquired about Socio-demographic profile, awareness on COVID pandemic and cases in the surroundings. UCLA Loneliness scale, Brief resilience and coping scale (BRCS) and Psychological distress scale (K6) assessed self-reported loneliness, coping and psychological distress, respectively. Special regressor technique adjusting for endogeneity and heteroskedasticity was used to extract the average marginal effects. Results Majority of the respondents were 18–35 years old, male, single and urban residents. News media, social media mostly acted as sources of information regarding COVID related news. Overall, 54.47% (95% CI: 51.39–57.53%) and 38.39% (95% CI: 35.57–41.29%) were reported to be lonely and had low resilient coping ability respectively. Around 44.68% had high risk of developing psychological distress. Being a student (average marginal effect coefficient (AMECoef).: -0.07, 95% CI: [-0.12, -0.01]) and perceiving lockdown as an effective measure (AMECoef: -0.11, 95% CI: [-0.19, -0.03]) were protective against psychological distress. Psychological distress was associated with male respondents (AMECoef 0.07, 95% CI: [0.02, 0.11]), low or medium resilient copers (AMECoef 0.89, 95% CI: [0.17, 1.61]), and perceiving a serious impact of social distancing measures (AMECoef 0.17, 95% CI: [0.09, 0.26]). Conclusions Psychological distress among Indian population during lockdown was prevalent. Poor coping ability and perceiving social distancing to have a serious impact was found to be significantly contributing to psychological distress. Appropriate measures to address these issues would be beneficial for the community mental health.
Objectives Medication non-adherence is one important reason behind sub-optimal outcome from treatment of bipolar affective disorder (BPAD). Though various reasons behind medication non-adherence have been identified, little is known about the medication adherence patterns across various predominant polarities (PP) in BPAD. Methods 100 euthymic patients of BPAD were purposively recruited and the PP were determined. Subsequently, Morisky Medication adherence scale (MMAS); Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF); Oslo Social Support Scale and World Health Organization Quality of Life scale- Brief version (WHOQOL-Bref) were administered. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was done to estimate the difference of scores of MMAS after adjusting for any potential confounders. Results Overall, 44 patients with manic PP (MPP), 17 with depressive PP (DPP) and 39 with indeterminate PP (IPP) were recruited. It was found that patients who presented with DPP showed significantly higher medication adherence as compared to MPP. Conclusion Knowledge of PP of a patient of BPAD can be useful in anticipating medication adherence and treatment outcome. The major limitations included non-probability sampling, cross-sectional design and limited generalizability of the results.
Background: Social cognition deficits are common in clinical populations but there is a dearth of standardized social cognition assessment tools in India. Theory of mind (ToM) is an important aspect of social cognition which is often assessed with the revised reading the mind in eyes test (RMET-R). However, we do not have a statistically validated version of the test for the Indian population. Aim: This study aims to assess the acceptability, reliability, and validity of the Bengali version of the RMET-R. Materials and Methods: We administered the RMET-R to 23 patients with chronic schizophrenia (SCZ), 22 patients with bipolar disorder, and 104 healthy controls (HCs) to evaluate the reliability and validity of the instrument in the Indian (Bengali) population. Results: We obtained moderate internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.6) and test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.64, P < 0.001). Positive correlations were found between RMET-R and Wechsler picture arrangement ( r = 0.60, P < 0.001), picture completion ( r = 0.54, P < 0.001), and comprehension subtests ( r = 0.48, P < 0.001). Patients with SCZ ( M = 49.7, standard deviation [SD] = 16.5) scored significantly lower than HCs ( M = 68.9, SD = 13.8) ( P = 0.008; Cohen's d = 1.3) on the RMET-R. Thus this tool could discriminate patients who are reported to have Theory of Mind deficits from healthy controls. Conclusion: The Bengali version of the RMET-R is a reliable and valid tool for assessing first-order ToM insofar as the original RMET-R measures this construct.
Background: Depression has emerged as one of the prime morbidities affecting professional and personal lives worldwide. Antidepressants are one of the mainstays of management of depressive episodes. Although antidepressants are considered a safe class of drugs, the studies examining the effects of antidepressant prescription on intraocular pressure (IOP) have shown a propensity to increase IOP, but not consistently. This study aimed to compare the changes in IOP and iridocorneal angle in drug-naïve patients with depressive episodes prescribed escitalopram or amitriptyline. Methods: Overall, 109 patients were recruited, of which 53 were prescribed amitriptyline and 56, escitalopram. A comparison of IOP and the iridocorneal angle at weeks 0, 4, and 8 was done using a two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance (two-way RM analysis of variance). Results: Patients initiated on escitalopram tended to show a higher rise in the IOP (left eye–[F = 3.27; P = 0.04]; right eye [F = 2.47; P = 0.08]). No difference was found in the iridocorneal angles in any of the four quadrants across both eyes. Conclusions: Escitalopram use had an association with an increase in IOP. While initiating patients on antidepressants, clinicians should be aware of this possibility, which can lead to ocular emergencies, and obtain a proper history of ocular morbidities.
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