Perceptions about the cause of schizophrenia and the subsequent help seeking behavior in a Pakistani population – results of a cross-sectional survey

Abstract

Background: There is a cultural variability around the perception of what causes the syndrome of schizophrenia. Generally patients with schizophrenia are considered dangerous. They are isolated and treatment is delayed. Studies have shown favorable prognosis with good family and social support, early diagnosis and management. Duration of untreated psychosis is a bad prognostic indicator. We aimed to determine the perceptions regarding the etiology of schizophrenia and the subsequent help seeking behavior.

Causal attributions, pathway to care and clinical features of first-episode psychosis: A South African perspective

“…This seems also to be the case in general population surveys of causal attributions (Angermeyer and Matschinger, 1996;Zafar et al, 2008). Studies in LMICs such as Iran (Sharifi et al, 2009), Zambia (Mbewe et al, 2006) and Singapore (Chong et al, 2005) report that approximately a quarter to a third of patients with FEP consult traditional healers prior to making contact with formal mental health services.…”

How Japanese public health nurses manage neighbors’ complaints toward mentally ill persons with problematic behaviors?

“…Furthermore, the PHNs could change the role of the neighbors from a complainer to a key communicator for them. Previous study focused on professional care and did not mention about the neighbors' voices 26) . MIPs faced 2 main problems; one was managing their disorder and symptoms, and the other was facing misinterpretation of their mental illness by the public, resulting in stigma 27) .…”

The use of vignettes within a Delphi exercise: a useful approach in empirical ethics?

“…In a systematic review of vignette studies of medical choice and judgement, Bachmann et al 10 describe their search strategy as identifying 2001 records, of which 81 full papers were obtained and 30 papers included in the review. In recent general qualitative research, vignettes have been used to explore: the understanding of adjuvant therapy options for women with breast cancer22; the prescription of antibiotics for respiratory tract infections23; the use of deception in drug trials24; physicians' clinical decision making in diabetes25; drug prescribing for Japanese cedar pollinosis26; various aspects of medical education27–29; the management of hypertension30; mental health literacy31; patients' beliefs regarding medication32; psychiatric advance directives33; referral of patients to specialists by GPs34; stigma and depression35; decisions regarding the use of thrombolysis36; knowledge of tuberculosis among medical practitioners37; cost awareness of postoperative complications38; urinary incontinence following stroke39; the management of low back pain40; physician reporting41; the treatment of polymyalgia42; the management of chronic prostatitis43; perceptions of the cause of schizophrenia44; and many others.…”