Attitudes of medical students toward psychiatry in a Chilean medical school.

OBJECTIVE: The authors assess the attitudes of seventh-year medical students with regard to psychiatry and patients with psychiatric illness during the psychiatry clerkship. METHODS: A 32-item questionnaire regarding attitudes toward psychiatry and patients with psychiatric illness was administered at the beginning of the psychiatry clerkship. RESULTS: One hundred and ten seventh-year students participated in the study, providing responses anonymously. Average negative attitude item score was 2.45 ± 0.3 (range 1.7-3.3). Eighty-three students (75 %) responded to all the questions with an average negative attitude item score of 2.43 ± 0.3 (range 1.7-3.3) and a total negative attitude item score of 77.9 ± 10.3 (range 55-104). CONCLUSIONS: Undergraduate students of a Chilean medical school showed fairly positive attitudes toward psychiatry and toward patients with psychiatric illness.

[High prevalence of thyroid dysfunction among psychiatric inpatients]. / Alta prevalencia de disfunción tiroidea en pacientes psiquiátricos hospitalizados.

BACKGROUND: Thyroid dysfunction is frecuent in psychiatric outpatients and in the general Chilean population but there is no information about the prevalence of thyroid diseases in Chilean psychiatric inpatients. AIM: To retrospectively assess the frequency of thyroidal diseases in psychiatric inpatients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Clinical charts and thyroid assessment of 241 psychiatric inpatients (147 women, mean age 33+/-16 years) attended in a University Psychiatric Clinic, were reviewed. Psychiatric diagnosis at discharge was made according to DSM IV criteria and endocrine diagnosis was made based on international criteria. RESULTS: Forty nine patients (20.7%) had thyroid abnormalities. Forty four patients had hypothyroidism (18.3%) and five had hyperthyroidism (2.35%). No specific associations were found between gender or psychiatric diagnosis and endocrine abnormalities. CONCLUSIONS: In this sample, the prevalence of thyroid abnormalities was similar to other reports in psychiatric inpatiens and higher than in the general population in Chile.

Alta prevalencia de disfunción tiroidea en pacientes psiquiátricos hospitalizados / High prevalence of thyroid dysfunction among psychiatric inpatients

Background: Thyroid dysfunction is frecuent in psychiatric outpatients and in the general Chilean population but there is no information about the prevalence of thyroid diseases in Chilean psychiatric inpatients. Aim: To retrospectively assess the frequency of thyroidal diseases in psychiatric inpatients. Material and Methods: Clinical charts and thyroid assessment of 241 psychiatric inpatients (147 women, mean age 33±16 years) attended in a University Psychiatric Clinic, were reviewed. Psychiatric diagnosis at discharge was made according to DSM IV criteria and endocrine diagnosis was made based on international criteria. Results: Forty nine patients (20.7%) had thyroid abnormalities. Forty four patients had hypothyroidism (18.3%) and five had hyperthyroidism (2.35%). No specific associations were found between gender or psychiatric diagnosis and endocrine abnormalities. Conclusions: In this sample, the prevalence of thyroid abnormalities was similar to other reports in psychiatric inpatiens and higher than in the general population in Chile.