Psychiatric Morbidity among Subjects with Leprosy and Albinism in South East Nigeria: A Comparative Study.

BACKGROUND: Skin, which is the largest organ in the body, carries immense psychological significance. Disfiguring skin disorders may impact negatively on the mental health of individuals. AIM: This study compared the psychiatric morbidity of subjects with leprosy and albinism. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: One hundred subjects with leprosy and 100 with albinism were interviewed. Sociodemographic questionnaire and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) assessed the sociodemographic characteristics and psychiatric morbidity, respectively. GHQ positive cases and 10% of noncases for each group were interviewed with Mini International Neuropsychiatric Inventory for specific ICD-10 diagnoses. RESULTS: Fifty-five percent (55/100) subjects with leprosy were GHQ positive cases while 41% (41/100) with albinism were GHQ positive cases. The risk of developing psychiatric morbidity was significantly higher in subjects with leprosy than in subjects with albinism (OR = 1.76, CI = 1.00 - 3.08, P = 0.04). The prevalence of specific psychiatric disorders among subjects with leprosy were depression 49% (49/100), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) 18% (18/100), alcohol/drug abuse 16% (16/100), whereas in albinism depression was 51% (51/100), GAD 27% (27/100), and alcohol/drug abuse 7% (7/100). Male, married and uneducated subjects with leprosy had significantly higher psychiatric morbidity than the male, married and uneducated subjects with albinism, respectively. CONCLUSION: Psychiatric morbidity was higher in subjects with leprosy than in subjects with albinism. Male, married and uneducated subjects with leprosy significantly had higher morbidity than male, married and uneducated subjects with albinism respectively.

Prevalence and correlates of cigarette smoking among patients with schizophrenia in southeast Nigeria.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of cigarette smoking among patients with schizophrenia and to explore their sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. METHOD: A cross-sectional descriptive study of 367 patients with schizophrenia. Instruments administered included sociodemographic questionnaire, Present State Examination: schizophrenia section to confirm schizophrenia diagnosis and Present State Examination: tobacco section to those that smoked. RESULTS: A total of 189 females (51.5%) and 178 (48.5%) males were studied. The mean age of the participants was 34.1 ± 9.94 years. Two hundred and forty-one (65.7%) had never being married. Two hundred and three (55.3%) had secondary school education. A lifetime prevalence of 25.9% and a current smoking rate of 20.4% were reported. Ninety five (53.4%) of the males had smoked at least once in their lifetime. None of the females smoked. Among those that smoked, being unmarried (Ï°² = 6.51, P < 0.01) and unemployed (Ï°² = 5.11, P < 0.02) were associated with prescription of high doses of antipsychotics. Of those that smoked, the managing psychiatrist identified or documented only twenty-five (26.3%) of them (kappa = 0.80, P < 0.00). CONCLUSION: The rate of smoking in Nigerian patients with schizophrenia is considerably less than is reported for their Western counterparts.

Factors associated with depression and suicide among patients with diabetes mellitus and essential hypertension in a Nigerian teaching hospital.

BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus (DM) and essential hypertension are chronic medical conditions that place a lot of burden on patients. The presence of depression and suicidal behaviour may worsen the prognosis. OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of depression and suicidal behaviour in subjects with diabetes mellitus and essential hypertension and also determine the socio-demographic correlates. METHODS: Major depressive episode and suicidality modules of Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview were used to assess depression and suicidal behaviour respectively. RESULTS: The prevalence of depression for the subjects with DM was 27.8% and 26.7% for essential hypertension. The subjects with DM had prevalence of 6.3% for suicidal behaviour while essential hypertension had 7.8%. Depression was higher in subjects with DM if they were not married or had no education while the subjects with essential hypertension were more likely to have depression if they were not married, had no education or not employed. Suicidal behaviour was higher in subjects with DM if they had no education while in essential hypertension suicidal behaviour was higher in females, those not married and those not educated. CONCLUSION: Depression and suicidal behaviour occur with DM and essential hypertension.