Background: There has been a considerable increase in the numbers of older people in the world population of both developed and developing countries. These populations are thought to be at greater risk for depression. Many researches are conducted on physical wellbeing of elderly but studies regarding depression among elderly, especially in old age home is lesser in the developing countries. Objectives: To assess depression among elderly residing in an old age home in Kathmandu and its association with some of the socio-demographic variables. Methods: One hundred fifty elderly people residing in social welfare centre elderly home, Pashupatinath, Gaushala, Kathmandu, Nepal were selected randomly. Geriatric depression scale (GDS) was applied in all the individuals to assess the prevalence and degree of depression. Results: This study showed that, 47.33% of population had depression. Among the depressed population, 70.42% had mild depression and 29.58% had severe depression. There was significant association between the prevalence of depression and history of physical illness. Conclusion: Depressive disorder is highly prevalent among the elderly population residing in the old age home in Kathmandu with history of physical illness.

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Mirtazapine is efficacious in treating atypical antipsychotic-induced akathisia. It may be a good option, particularly in patients with coexisting depression.

Background:Individuals with chronic alcoholism show impairments in visual scanning, set-shifting and response inhibition abilities.Aim:To study the relationship between performance on tests of set-shifting and selective attention, and alcohol intake variables (duration of dependence, amount of alcohol intake, and duration of abstinence during the past year).Methods:In this cross-sectional, controlled study, inpatients from a tertiary care centre were selected. Thirty patients with alcohol dependence and 15 age-, sex- and education-matched normal controls were administered the Trail Making Test (TMT) and Stroop test to assess visual scanning, set-shifting and response inhibition abilities. The data were analysed using the χ2 test, t test and ANOVA with post-hoc analysis.Results:The patient group performed poorly on all measures of the tests. The duration of dependence and the amount of alcohol intake (during the past 1 year) were not found to significantly affect the performance on the 2 tests. The duration of abstinence during the past 1 year was significantly related to performance on the Stroop test with patients having a longer duration of abstinence showing lesser impairment.Conclusion:Patients with a fewer number of days of alcohol intake during the past 1 year show relatively better visual scanning, set-shifting and response inhibition abilities.

INTRODUCTION: Emergency department serves as one of the gateway through which patients with psychiatric disorders come for treatment. The referral to the psychiatry department enables a psychiatrist to provide services to these patients in need. So, the study of this pathway of care becomes important. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 100 consecutive patients referred from emergency to the department of psychiatry were enrolled in this study. Their socio-demographic variables, reason and purpose for referral was assessed. The psychiatric diagnosis was made according to the International Classification of Diseases -10 (ICD-10) system. RESULTS: The psychiatric referral rate from the emergency was found to be 8.46%. Out of one hundred patients more referred patients were female (64%), from rural background (90%). Family members were the source of referral for emergency visit in most of the patients (74%). Dissociative disorder was the most common diagnosis (26%) followed by acute & transient psychotic disorders at 12%. CONCLUSIONS: Fewer patients are referred to psychiatry department even in a tertiary level hospital of Nepal. Journal of Universal College of Medical Sciences (2015) Vol.03 No.02 Issue 10      Page : 5-9

Introduction: The prevalence of Delirium tremens (DT) is around 5-12%. Very few studies have looked into the prevalence of DT in general population and has shown varying results. The study aims at finding the prevalence of delirium tremens among alcohol dependents (AD) and a comparison of profiles of alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) with DT and AWS without DT. Material And Method: A case- control study was conducted in patients diagnosed as Alcohol dependent syndrome and admitted in Psychiatry in-patient ward for detoxification. Socio demographic and clinical variables were assessed and compared between alcohol dependents who developed DT and who did not developed DT. Results: 24% of the patients with AD had/developed delirium tremens. The multivariate regression analysis model shows variables like Age>50years (AOR= 75.7,95% C.I=7.8-730), Caste(Janjati: AOR=4.2, 95% C.I=1.329-13.23,) and unemployment(AOR=54.2, 95%C.I=3.8-765.254),longer length(years) of alcohol consumption >20 years(AOR= 305,95%CI=3.4-2711),presentation within 48-72 hrs since the last intake of alcohol (AOR=923,95%CI=38-22333),absence of nicotine consumption(AOR=40,95%C.I.=1.66-967) were significantly associated with development of delirium tremens. Similarly, those with educational status of higher secondary and above (AOR=0.7, 95% C.I =0.73-1.43), past history of absence of DT (AOR=0.013, 95% C.I=0.0002-0.77), less frequent intake of alcohol <3 times/week (AOR=0.001,95%C.I=0.001-0.07) had less likely developed DT. These significant variables were further assessed for their ability to predict the occurrence of delirium tremens in ROC and area under the curve for age, duration since last alcohol intake and years of intake of alcohol were respectively = 0.799, 0.843 and 0.765. Conclusion: Three features findings (older Age, more years of intake of alcohol, more hrs since last intake of alcohol) were more likely seen in delirium tremens patients.

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