Overall Care-Seeking Pattern and Gender Disparity at a Specialized Mental Hospital in Bangladesh

Abstract

Introduction: The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is the only national level mental health institution in Bangladesh, with both academic and clinical functions, thus playing a crucial role in delivering specialized mental health care for the entire population. Aim: This study examined the overall pattern of mental health care seeking, age and sex distribution of patients and mental health problems diagnosed in the facility. Methods: Using a facility-based cross-sectional study design, secondary data was collected from various hospital records and reports from April 2001 to June 2016, and quantitatively analyzed. Results: There has been a steady increase in the number of patients at NIMH over the years. Typically, female patients were about half in number compared to male patients and fewer in each age group and all disease categories except inpatients with neurotic, stress-related and somatoform disorders. The highest number of inpatients and outpatients were 15-30 years old and those with schizophrenia, schizotypal and delusional disorders. Conclusion: Minors and females seeking care at NIMH were underrepresented, thus highlighting the need for interventions to improve access for these patients.

RETRACTED: Analysis of 329,942 SARS-CoV-2 records retrieved from GISAID database

“…[ 45 ]), a medical access problem for rural areas persists. Estimating the rates of female inequality concerning medical care, a paper from the National Institute of Medical Health states that female patients were about half in number compared to male patients [ 46 ]. Our research also highlights possible issues in terms of health care for males: South Africa, Lithuania, and Russia uploaded 64%, 61%, and 57% of female records, respectively (the top three countries are considered for a shift in male to female ratio for both genders; while official statistics, male to female: South Africa 49%:51%, Lithuania 46%:54%, and Russia 46%:54%, by https://data.worldbank.org/ ).…”

Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) e Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS): uma revisão sistemática

“…Apesar da literatura citar que a diferença entre sexos, na esquizofrenia, por exemplo, essa diferença não é significativa (APA, 2014). Referente aos quadros de esquizofrenia, o resultado desse estudo vai ao encontro de outros dados da literatura (NURI et al, 2019;RIEL et al 2019), que encontraram uma maior prevalência de homens acometidos pela esquizofrenia.…”

Analysis of 329,942 SARS-CoV-2 records retrieved from GISAID database

“…Although Bangladesh has shown significant improvement in moving towards gender equality (according to Human Development Report 2020), a medical access problem for rural areas persists. Estimating the rates of female inequality concerning medical care, a paper from the National Institute of Medical Health states that female patients were about half in number compared to male patients (Nuri et al, 2019). Our research also highlights possible issues in terms of health care for males: South Africa, Lithuania, and Russia uploaded 64%, 61%, and 57% of female records, respectively (the top three countries are considered for a shift in male to female ratio for both genders).…”

“…Official statistics, male to female: Saudi Arabia -58%:42%; Bangladesh 51%:49%, Singapore 52%:48% (https://data.worldbank.org/). While Saudi Arabia is known for limiting access to medical care for women without a male guardian (World Report 2020), Singapore, on the contrary, female patients were about half in number compared to male patients (Nuri et al, 2019). Our research also highlights possible issues in terms of health care for males: South Africa, Lithuania, and Russia uploaded 64%, 61%, and 57% of female records, respectively (the top three countries are considered for a shift in male to female ratio for both genders).…”