Immediate and short-term prevalence of depression in covid-19 patients and its correlation with continued symptoms experience.

Background: The COVID-19 infection can result in prolonged illness in those infected irrespective of disease severity. Infectious diseases are associated with a higher risk of mood disorders. A better understanding of convalescence, symptom duration, as well as the prevalence of depression among recovering patients, could help plan better care for the survivors of COVID-19. Aim: The study aimed to estimate the immediate and short-term prevalence of major depressive disorder and its correlation with continued symptom experience. Methods: In this non-interventional, observational, and cross-sectional telephone survey study, 273 participants were included from January 2021 to April 2021 and 261 completed follow-up by July 2021. The symptoms at the time of RT-PCR testing and during the two phone calls were captured and the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 item (PHQ-9) version was administered. Results: During the immediate and short-term period following COVID-19, 144/261 (55.1%) and 71/261 (27.2%) patients had not returned to usual health, respectively, and 33/261 (12.8%) and 13/261 (5%) of the patients developed depression, respectively. The binary logistic regression analysis revealed that the independent predictors of depression in short-term period following COVID-19 were comorbid diabetes mellitus (OR = 32.99, 95% CI- 2.19-496, P = 0.011), number of symptoms at the time of RT-PCR testing (OR = 1.89, 95% CI 1.23-1.92, P = 0.018), and number of symptoms at short-term period following COVID-19 (OR = 2.85, 95% CI 1.47-5.51, P = 0.002). Conclusions: Individuals with a greater number of symptoms at the time of RT-PCR testing, with post-COVID symptoms persisting 3 months later, and those who have comorbid diabetes mellitus, are at greater odds to have comorbid depression.

Lumbar Disc Degenerative Disorder among Patients Undergoing Magnetic Resonance Imaging in a Tertiary Care Centre: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study.

Introduction: Magnetic resonance imaging is the standard imaging modality for detecting disc pathology due to its advantage of lack of radiation, multiplanar imaging capability, excellent spinal soft-tissue contrast, and precise localization of intervertebral discs changes. The aim of the study is to find out the prevalence of lumbar disc degenerative disorder among patients undergoing magnetic resonance imaging in a tertiary care hospital. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Radiodiagnosis and Interventional Radiology of a tertiary care centre among patients with complaints of low back pain from 24th May, 2021 to 31st December, 2021 in a tertiary care hospital. Ethical clearance was taken from the Institutional Review Committee (Reference number: 134/2077-78). A sample size of 899 was taken and convenience sampling was done. Collected data were entered and analyzed on Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 22.0. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and percentage for binary data and mean with standard deviation for continuous data. Results: Among 899 patients undergoing magnetic resonance imaging, the prevalence of lumbar disc degenerative disorder was found to be 155 (17.24%) (14.77-19.70 at 95% Confidence Interval). Conclusions: The prevalence of lumbar disc degenerative disorder among patients undergoing magnetic resonance in our study was lower when compared to other similar studies conducted in similar settings. Keywords: disc degeneration; low back pain; magnetic resonance imaging.

Management of depression in primary care.

Countless publications document that most patients of depression are managed by the primary care physicians and only few cases are referred to psychiatrists. In the present article, the authors have discussed the relevant features in diagnosis and management of depression for the primary care physicians.

Menstrual psychosis : a case report.

Menstrual Psychosis is a unique disorder (Altschule et al, 1963). Over the last 150 years, sporadic case reports of this disorder are found in the literature. As yet, the standard psychiatric diagnostic nomenclature i.e. DSM, ICD-10 does not acknowledge its individuality. We report a 16-year-old female patient who was treated for three episodes of psychosis over a period of 5 months.