The Impact of Online Schooling due to the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Mental and Socioeconomic Well-being of Parents and Guardians of Primary School Students

• COVID-19 caused extensive economic recession and Trinidad is no exception. Whilst lockdown slowed the spread of COVID-19, it also resulted in the closure of schools and retrenchment of workers. • Therefore, it was imperative that the parental population be investigated to determine the impact of this pandemic on their livelihood, since challenges they encountered impacted the quality of education received by their children. • Many families faced financial constraints in purchasing electronic devices and internet connectivity to facilitate their children's online learning. This overwhelming stress coupled with lack of technological competence had the possibility of increasing the prevalence of psychiatric disorders such as generalized anxiety and depression

Prevalence of anxiety in an outpatient clinic sample of type 2 diabetics in Trinidad

OBJECTIVE: To examine the prevalence of anxiety in an outpatient clinic sample type 2 diabetics in Trinidad. Additionally, this study aims to examine gender differences in anxiety, whether anxiety levels differed among age groups and whether anxiety was related to hyperglycemia and having a coexisting medical complication such as hypertension and heart disease. DESIGN AND METHODS: 128 type 2 diabetics attending outpatient clinics on designated clinic days for their routine appointment were surveyed. Their demographics, levels of anxiety, blood glucose levels and coexisting medical complications were measured. Pearson’s correlations and t-tests were used to analyse the data. RESULTS: 19.5% of the sample population had mild to moderate levels of anxiety. The analyses indicated that diabetics with coexisting medical conditions had higher anxiety levels (p = .038); and women were more likely to have higher levels of anxiety than men (p = .002). CONCLUSION: Anxiety may potentially exacerbate the complications associated with diabetes. Attention should be given to the psychological symptoms associated with type 2 diabetes and the implementation of screening for anxiety at health clinics in an effort to effectively treat type 2 diabetes in Trinidad.

Stress among nurses working in intensive care units (ICUs) - Poster presentation

ICU nurses are subject to great stress in view of the serious nature of the patients and intensive monitoring and the shift work. We designed a study to assess the effect of some of these potential stressors: "working" or "nonworking origin", as well as to determine those working stimuli which produce anxiety. A study was done among 14 nurses (age 23 to 33, 1-7 years of experience) from different ICUs. Arterial blood pressure (ABP) and heart rate (HR) were measured twice daily in 8 different working days, along with body temperature (BT). Results of the survey were analyzed using Square Chi test (p=0.05) and the other variables through the Analysis of Variance test (p=0.001). The results of ABP, HR and BT showed no differences neither each day nor among the 8 different days. Only three stimuli of any origin showed significance: loss of interest to family activities or the job, the feeling of tension or anxiety, and non-serious condition of diseases. The most anxiogenic stimuli were scarcity of supplies and the shortage of qualified staff. These results agree with previous findings in relation with the low disturbing effects of working conditions in ICU and some non-labour conditions. The most anxiogenic stimuli were related to the responsibility and qualification of the surveyed nursing staff (AU)

Knowledge and fears of anaesthesia and surgery: the Jamaican perspective

This study was undertaken to assess patients' knowledge and perceptions, fears and concern regarding perioperative management. 300 patients were interviewed consecutively and a questionnaire was completed for each patient. 25 percent admitted to having anxiety about their upcomming operation. The prevalence of preoperative fear was significantly higher in younger patients (age <40 years, p<0.05) and in more educated patients (secondary and tertiary levels, p<0.001). The commonest fears were those of a morbid nature (eg. death on the operating table). 34 percent of the patients did not realize than anaesthetists were qualified doctors, and only 10 percent recognized the central role played by anaesthetists in the monitoring of vital signs throughout an operation. There is continuing need for public education on the role of the anaesthetists in health care, and anaesthetists must ensure that preoperative concerns of their patients are adequately addressed.(AU)

Common psychological illnesses in the elderly

The elderly are especially prone to psychological illness. Cognitive impairment increases with age and as this is a primary symptom of many common disorders, it constitutes a major health problem. The elderly also frequently become depressed and have the highest suicide rate of all age groups. Given the increasing numbers of elderly persons in the population, the primary care physician must assume the reponsibility of evaluating, diagnosing and initiating psychiatric treatment with an emphasis on early and accurate diagnosis, and the detection of underlying causes, many of which are reversible (AU)

A study of the relationship between stress and hypertension among factory workers in Jamaica

This study was designed to examine the relationship between stress and esssential hypertension among factory workers. Hypertensives were identified through screening, clinical investigations and questionnaire stating details of health related problems. Seven males and females under the age of 50, whose blood pressure remained above 140/90 and twenty-three matched normotensives were selected. The mean age for males and females was 34.4 and 44.2 respectively. Data were obtained by way of taking blood pressure readings at three intervals, a.m., noon and p.m., on Fridays (day 1) and repeated again on Monday(day 2), along with anxiety state and anxiety trait psychological inventory administered on both days. No significant differences between groups and sex were found on systolic, diastolic, age and measures of anxiety state and anxiety trait. Comparisions of correlation showed no significant relationships between anxiety state and anxiety trait compared with systolic and diastolic blood pressures. However, results showed significant positive relationships between anxiety state and anxiety trait, and between systolic and diastolic blood pressures. There was also, a negative correlation between anxiety state and age. The results of this finding indicate that as age increases, stress(anxiety state) decreases. Between systolic and diastolic blood pressures, there was no obvious linear relationship with age. However, when these variables were examined by means of graph, by age group, it was found that the 30-39 yers age group had a lower mean systolic pressure than either age groups, 20-29 and 40-49 years. Results showed that females in the 40-50 age group, tended to have higher blood pressure but lower anxiety than their male counterparts. There were significant differences between hypertensives and normotensives on measures of systolic and diatolic pressure. The hypertensives showed a trend of higher anxiety state, suggesting a greater level of stress than the normotensives. It is evident that psychological and social-environmental factors must be taken into account in the aetiology of essential hypertension. These results suggest that further research on essential hypertension and psychological factors on a longitudinal basis may be valuable in determining the aetiology of essential hypertension (AU)

Self-conception and psychosocial adjustment: a study of some high school adolescents

This study attempted to test and define some conceptual and empirical issues related to the role of self-conception in psychosocial adjustment. Self esteem was found to be of importance in the process of awareness of and feeling about personal and social identity (AU)

Psychiatric disorder in the children of West Indian immigrants

The clinical characteristics of fifty-five children, born of West Indian parents, who had been referred to a Child Guidance Clinic over a period of three years, are described. The children are compared with fifty-five other children matched for age and sex. Roughly equal numbers of West Indian boys and girls were referred, although there is a considerable preponderance of boys in the rest of the clinic population. The two groups did not differ in social class or family size, nor was there a high rate of current separation amongst the parents of West Indian children. However, the West Indian children had suffered more separations from parent figures in their early years. West Indian boys showed less neurotic disorder and West Indian girls more antisocial disorder than the controls. All groups showed a severe degree of reading retardation. Caution is expressed about generalizing these findings to the population from which the children are drawn, but there is felt to be a clear cause for concern in the frequent and sometimes traumatic separations that the current migration imposes on West Indian family life (Summary)