Bangladesh Journal of Psychiatry

Treatment seeking pathway of patients with somatic symptoms attending the outpatient department of a tertiary level psychiatry hospital in Bangladesh

2024-03-14T19:30:52+00:00

Patients with somatic symptoms suffered extensively for adopting inappropriate treatment seeking pathway for their treatment. The aim of this study was to determine the treatment seeking pathway of patients with somatic symptoms attending the outpatient department (OPD) of a tertiary care psychiatric hospital in Bangladesh. This was a cross-sectional study conducted from September 2020 to June 2021 among 364 conveniently selected sample of patients with somatic symptoms attending to the OPD of National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Bangladesh. Data were collected by face-to-face interview using semi-structured questionnaire after taking the informed consent. After thorough cleaning and editing, the data of 352 respondents were analyzed using statistical package of social sciences (SPSS), version 24. The results showed that, highest percentage (59.9%) of the respondents belonged to the age group of 20-39 years with mean age of 30.64±13.26 years. Majority of them were male (57.7%), Muslim (92.0%) and urban habitant (45.9%). Near about two third (64.3%) respondents sought treatment where 40.7% of them received consultation from non-doctors. Around two-third (65.3%) of the respondents was suggested or referred by a patient or the relative of a patient to get treatment from NIMH. This study came up with valuable information regarding treatments seeking behavior and source of referral of patients to psychiatry center which should be incorporated in policy making to reduce treatment gap and confirm quality health care to the patients with somatic symptoms.

Bang J Psychiatry 2019; 33(2): 20-22

Anxiety disorder in academic situations among the adolescent school students of a few prominent schools in three districts of Bangladesh

2024-03-15T03:16:21+00:00

Adolescence is a crucial period from academic perspective and anxiety in this period plays an important role in this respect. The objective of this study was to assess the level of anxiety among the adolescent school students in respect of gender, economic status of the families and some relevant factors. It was a cross-sectional study conducted in Dhaka, Chattogram and Rajshahi districts in some prominent schools. The respondents were 123 in number they were of class nine and ten and the range of age was from 14 to 17 years. The study period was from September 2016 to September 2017. The data were collected by using the questionnaire Achievement Anxiety Test developed by R. Alpert and R. Haber in 1960. The results showed that 71 respondents were boys and 52 were girls. It was found that 101 (82.12%) respondents were seriously anxious. There was no statistically significant difference of the occurrence of anxiety disorder among the boys and girls (p >0.05). The lower middle class of the society showed the highest occurrence of serious level of anxiety (59.4%) followed by respondents of the upper middle class having 27.8% adolescents having the same problem. Comparing with the other classes (i.e. the poor and the rich), the difference was statistically highly significant at p <0.001. The overall findings of this study indicated negative status of anxiety level among the respondents. Therefore, we should be aware in this respect and our families, educational institutions and concerned authorities including psychologists and psychiatrists should do the necessary actions.

Bang J Psychiatry 2019; 33(2): 23-26

Characteristics of patients with obsessive compulsive disorder attending a tertiary care psychiatry hospital

2024-03-15T04:16:35+00:00

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is one of the most disabling psychiatric disorders. The purpose of the study was to find out the characteristics of patients with OCD attending a tertiary care psychiatry hospital in Bangladesh. This cross-sectional study was conducted in National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Dhaka from January 2021 to December 2021. Overall, 150 patients with OCD visited the outpatient and inpatient departments of the institution were selected conveniently. A pretested printed semi-structured questionnaire containing socio[1]demographic variables and variables related to OCD was applied for data collection. Data was collected by face to face interview with pen and paper method and data analysis was performed by statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 25. The results showed that the mean age of the respondents was 27.98 (±8.632) years. The male and female ratio was 1.3:1. More than half (51.3%) of the respondents were from urban background. Majority (33.3%) completed their graduation. Childhood (less than 18 year) onset of OCD was found among 42% of respondents, 86.7% respondents received treatment of OCD and among them 43.85% had treatment adherence. Almost three fourth (72%) of the them remained untreated for less than five years where others remained untreated for more than 5 years. Most of the respondents (88.7%) had no history of hospital admission and a considerable portion (39.3%) had family history of OCD. This study identified different factors related to OCD along with sociodemographic characteristics of the participants which might be used as baseline findings for future epidemiological studies.

Bang J Psychiatry 2019; 33(2): 27-31

Alice in wonderland syndrome: a rare psychiatric manifestation in a patient with stroke

2024-03-15T04:42:31+00:00

Alice in wonderland syndrome is a phenomenon of perceptual distortion where individual experiences wrong sense of body image which is often associated with depersonalization and/ or derealization. A case of a late adult stroke patient with distorted visual perception regarding his hands and legs was depicted here. The patient’s concern of asymmetry in his body parts were only abolished by practical evidence to the contrary though the events continued to come about repeatedly. Reassurance with evidence was added with stroke management as no other specific treatment was available. Further diverse epidemiolocal studies were suggested to execute and publish highlighting the management of this syndrome.

Bang J Psychiatry 2019; 33(2): 32-33

A case of an adolescent girl with kleptomania: an unstoppable urge to steal

2024-03-15T04:51:31+00:00

Kleptomania was a rare impulse control disorder characterized by the recurrent inability to resist the urge to steal items not needed for personal use or monetary gain. Here was a case of a 17-years-old girl presenting with repeated stealing for the last 7 years which was not planned rather impulsive. Both pharmacological and psychological interventions were executed maintaining firm adherence and close monitoring. Considerable improvement of the patients was evident thereafter. The case gave a hopeful message to the mental health professionals to treat these patients more effectively in the future. More researches regarding the management of kleptomania was recommended to be carried out.

Bang J Psychiatry 2019; 33(2): 34-35