Suicide Literacy and Attitudes Toward Seeking Psychological Help among Medical Residents.

BACKGROUND: This study investigates suicide literacy, help-seeking attitudes, and related factors among medical residents. METHODS: The study utilized a cross-sectional design and included all medical residents in Kerman University of Medical Sciences in 2023‒2024. We obtained demographic information, psychiatric history, and administered questionnaires about literacy of suicide (LOSS) and the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help (ATSPPH-SF). RESULTS: A total of 157 residents with a mean age of 28.97±2.55 years participated. The prevalence of any psychiatric history was 17.83% (95% CI: 12.1‒23.56). Notably, more educated males displayed higher suicidal literacy (95% CI: 0.231‒0.567, P=0.032), while there was no significant difference in help-seeking attitudes between genders (P=0.755). Surgical residents scored lower than non-surgical specialties like pediatrics (mean difference=2.63, 95% CI: 0.23-5.03, P=0.023, effect size d=0.589). Older age positively correlated with help-seeking attitudes (r=0.158, P=0.049). Additionally, marital status, residency level, history of psychiatric illnesses and their types, previous use of psychiatric medications, and history of self-harm or suicide had no significant impact on suicide literacy scores or attitude toward help-seeking. A moderate association (r=0.367) was found between the suicide literacy and help-seeking attitude questionnaire scores. CONCLUSION: Despite relatively high suicide literacy, medical residents displayed average help-seeking attitudes, positioning them as a high-risk group. Urgent interventions are needed to enhance awareness of the importance of psychological support and to reduce stress and work pressure, indirectly mitigating the risk of suicide in this vulnerable population.

The effect of electronic error-reporting forms on nurse's stress and the rate of error-reporting.

OBJECTIVES: The patient safety culture includes a systematic approach that promotes safe care for patients and the leadership that supports it. Medical errors threaten patient safety. A significant portion of medical errors is committed by nurses. Although error-reporting provides valuable information to prevent errors, most nurses do not report their errors due to their high level of stress. This study was to investigate the effect of electronic error-reporting forms on nurses' stress and the rate of error-reporting. METHODS: The nurses' level of stress was compared when using paper error-reporting and 6 months after using electronic forms. A revised version of the Coudron questionnaire was completed by 186 nurses. Data were analyzed by SPSS 23 using Wilcoxon test. The number of reported errors in paper and electronic media was compared over the same period. RESULTS: Implementation of the electronic error-reporting form reduced the job stress of nurses by 22.22 points (p=.00) and increased the error-reporting rate by 12.86% (p<.05). CONCLUSIONS: Although nurse's stress significantly decreases after implementing electronic error-reporting forms, their level of stress is still high and they are still at risk for physical and mental problems. Using methods like modifying the error-reporting form will increase the error-reporting rate.

Rosemary as an adjunctive treatment in patients with major depressive disorder: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Rosemary has shown antidepressant and anxiolytic properties. Thus, the present study aimed at assessing the therapeutic effects of orally administered rosemary capsules in patients with major depressive disorder. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Rosmarinic acid content of rosemary was determined using high performance liquid chromatography method. Hard gelatin capsules of rosemary were prepared, and their physicochemical properties were assessed. In this clinical trial, patients with major depressive disorder were randomly divided into rosemary and control groups. They received one capsule of rosemary or placebo twice a day for 8 weeks. The anxiety subscale of Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and Beck Depression Inventory - Second Edition were respectively used to measure the symptoms of anxiety and depression in the patients before initiating the treatment and four and eight weeks after the treatment. RESULTS: The amount of rosmarinic acid in rosemary was found to be 21.13 ± 0.56 mg/g dried plant. The scores of anxiety subscale of Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and Beck Depression Inventory significantly decreased in the rosemary group compared to those in the control group 8 weeks after the treatment. Memory improvement was a beneficial side effect observed in the study. CONCLUSION: The use of rosemary as an adjunctive therapy could improve the symptoms of anxiety and depression in people with major depression.

Validity and reliability of a Persian version of the self- evaluation of negative symptoms (SNS).

AIM: The Self-evaluation of Negative Symptoms (SNS) has been developed to allow schizophrenia patients to evaluate themselves in five dimensions of negative symptoms. The present study aimed to examine psychometric properties of the Persian version of SNS. METHODS: A group of 50 patients with schizophrenia and a group of 50 healthy controls received the Persian-SNS. Severity of negative symptoms were evaluated by the Scale for Assessment of Negative symptoms (SANS) and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS). RESULTS: The results showed that the Cronbach's alpha for the Persian SNS was 0.95. The Persian-SNS and its subscales showed significant positive correlations with the total SANS score and SANS subscales as well as BPRS negative subscale, thus confirming the validity of the scale. Finally, the Persian-SNS showed the ability to discriminate patients with schizophrenia from healthy controls. CONCLUSION: The acceptable properties of the Persian version of SNS demonstrated that it is a practical tool for screening negative symptoms in Persian-speaking schizophrenia patients.