Quality of Life and Stigma among Women with Epilepsy during Their Reproductive Years.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to understand the relationship between quality of life and stigma among reproductive age group women with epilepsy. METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted to assess the data from the 49 women with epilepsy from a tertiary care hospital in India. Quality of life was evaluated with the quality of life in epilepsy-31 questionnaire and stigma was evaluated with the stigma scale of epilepsy. Data also included socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 24.67±3.72 years. Quality of life total score (r=-0.485**) and seizure worry domain (r=-0.427**) were significantly negatively correlated with stigma total score at p<0.01 level. Being uneducated, married, unemployed, having children, having generalized tonic-clonic seizures, duration of illness (>10 years), and consuming levetiracetam, anti-epileptic drug (AED), were the significant contributing factors for low quality of life among women with epilepsy during the reproductive age group. Belonging to lower socio-economic status and taking more than two AEDs were also associated with lower quality of life among women with epilepsy, which are trending towards significance. CONCLUSIONS: The study assessed the relationship between the quality of life and the Stigma scale of epilepsy and demonstrated the impact of stigma and quality of life on socio-demographic and clinical variables of women with epilepsy under the reproductive age group. To enhance the quality of life and reduce the stigma levels among women with epilepsy, some of the modifiable parameters can be considered by the multidisciplinary health care professionals from the findings of the current research.

Clinical and sociodemographic profiles of persons with spinal cord injury.

AIM: To collect and correlate the sociodemographic and clinical details of persons with spinal cord injury who were admitted to the Department of Neurological Rehabilitation. OBJECTIVES: To assess the sociodemographic characteristics and collect the clinical profiles of persons with spinal cord injury and to correlate their sociodemographic and clinical details. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective file review was done over a period of 2 years from January 2017 to December 2018 to study patients with spinal cord injury who were admitted to the Neurological Rehabilitation ward of NIMHANS, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. RESULTS: A total of 60 patients were admitted with spinal cord injury. The mean age was 32.39 years and majority of the patients were young married males. Most of them belong to the low socioeconomic status and are housewives and daily wage laborers. Falls and road traffic accidents are the causes for the injury. Anxiety and depression are high among traumatic spinal cord injury patients. CONCLUSION: This information may contribute to prevent SCI and to improve the quality of life of patients with SCI. It has implications for the primary care physicians who are at first contact to identify and refer them for specialized super speciality district hospitals for further treatment as they pose a great threat to public health and their proportions are increasing. It is imperative that trauma care is included in graduate medical training as well to facilitate early intervention after initial screening.

Employability of people with mental illness and substance use problems: Field realities.

BACKGROUND: There has always been a strong association between mental illness and work-related disability. According to the "World Health Organization," of all disabilities, severe mental illness is associated with the highest rates of unemployment. People with mental illness and problems with substance use have especially low employment rates. AIM: To identify the employability factors among people with mental illness and substance use problems. OBJECTIVES: To assess the barriers and to identify various strategies to overcome barriers to employment for persons with mental illness and substance use problems and to identify instructors' responses about the functionality of the person who works in the vocational training center, to assess the social support experienced by the respondents. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a qualitative study used the purposive sampling method to conduct the study on 15 respondents (five people with mental illness, five caregivers, five instructors) from Department of Psychiatric and Neuro Rehabilitation, NIMHANS, Bengaluru. RESULTS: Various themes have identified to assess the barriers, aiding factors, and strategies to employment. Barriers to employment have categorized into individual factors, interpersonal factors, employment factors, and social factors. Health, communication, family support, treatment, and training are strategies to improve employability. Proper treatment and continuous adherence to medication, emotional support by family members and colleagues are the employment aiding factors. CONCLUSION: Identification of barriers and facilitators in the Indian context will help us to address the employability of persons with mental illness and substance use problems.