Imran Ijaz Haider

Screening of antenatal depression in Pakistan: risk factors and effects on obstetric and neonatal outcomes

Introduction: To determine the frequency of probable antenatal depression (AD) in pregnant women in third trimester, assess the risk factors and its impact on obstetric and neonatal outcomes in a developing country.

Pattern of benzodiazepine use in psychiatric outpatients in Pakistan: a cross-sectional survey

BackgroundBenzodiazepines (BDZ) are the largest-selling drug group in the world. The potential of dependence with BDZ has been known for almost three decades now. In countries like Pakistan where laws against unlicensed sale of BDZ are not implemented vigorously the risk of misuse of and dependence on these drugs is even higher. Previous studies have shown that BDZ prevalence among patients/visitors to general outpatient clinics in Pakistan may be as high as 30%. However, no research has been carried out on the prevalence of BDZ use in psychiatric patients in Pakistan.MethodsWe carried out a cross-sectional survey over 3 months in psychiatry outpatient clinics of two tertiary care hospitals in Karachi and Lahore. Besides basic socio-demographic data the participants were asked if they were taking a BDZ at present and if yes, the frequency, route and dosage of the drug, who had initiated the drug and why it had been prescribed. We used chi-square test and t-test to find out which socio-demographic or clinical factors were associated with an increased risk of BDZ use. We used Logistic Regression to find out which variable(s) best predicted the increased likelihood of BDZ use.ResultsOut of a total of 419 participants 187 (45%) of the participants had been currently using at least one BDZ. Seventy-three percent of the users had been using the drug for 4 weeks or longer and 87% were taking it every day. In 90% of cases the BDZ had been initiated by a doctor, who was a psychiatrist in 70% of the cases. Female gender, increasing age, living in Lahore, and having seen a psychiatrist before, were associated with an increased likelihood of using BDZ.ConclusionThe study shows how high BDZ use is in psychiatric outpatients in Pakistan. Most of the users were taking it for a duration and with a frequency which puts them at risk of becoming dependent on BDZ. In most of the cases it had been initiated by a doctor. Both patients and doctors need to be made aware of the risk of dependence associated with the use of BDZ.

Development and validation of assessment of psycho-education of carers questionnaire: An early experience

Background and Objective: Psycho-education is an intervention integrating psychotherapeutic and educational strategies. Whilst carer psycho-education is known to aid in psychiatric disorders, at present there is no known tool to assess the degree to which this is routinely provided by mental health professionals. Our objective was to develop and validate a tool, in English, which assesses psycho-education of carers of psychiatric patients in Pakistan. Methods: A questionnaire was generated in English. It was pretested on twenty male and female carers and was refined to attain a more reliable version. Sixty bilingual male and female primary carers, who were fluent in English, and had been in a care-giving role for more than three months were requested to complete the developed Questionnaire for the Assessment of Psycho-Education of Carers (APEC) at Fatima Memorial Hospital Psychiatry Out-patient department within a period of four months from December, 2017 to April, 2018. Carers were identified via patients presenting to a psychiatric OPD. Responses were analyzed for reliability and test retest consistency using Cronbach’s alpha analysis, Intraclass correlation coefficients, factor analysis and Paired t-test. Results: APEC was found to be easily understandable and capable of adequately assessing aspects of psycho-education. A high degree of internal consistency was demonstrated on cronbach’s alpha analysis. Cronbach’s α coefficient for various domains was sufficiently high ranging from0.76 to 0.960. Similarly, domains of (APEC) were highly correlated. Test-retest reliability was assessed by computing the correlation between Visits 1 and 2 scores. Conclusion: The developed questionnaire can adequately assess psycho-education of primary carers in mental health settings.

Atypical cause of a typical chest pain.

A 56 year old African American female who had a past medical history of transient ischemic attack in 2006 presented in our emergency department with first episode of sudden onset of severe central chest pain radiating to both arms , exaggerated by exertion, without any relieving factors, associated with nausea and sweating. She was taking baby aspirin, folic acid and multivitamin regularly. She did not have any history of smoking, alcohol or drug abuse. On Examination, she was in moderate distress due to pain, her pulse rate was 110 per minute (regular), and blood pressure was 153/85 mm HG. She was having mild tenderness in left upper quadrant. Rest of the physical examination was benign. Her initial electrocardiogram (EKG) did not show any acute ST segment or T wave changes. Troponin-I was also negative. She was started on oxygen, intra venous morphine and normal saline and shifted to the medical floor for further management. Her serial EKG’s and troponin’s remain negative. Transthoracic echocardiogram did not show any evidence of wall motion abnormalities. Further laboratory data showed that she was having hemolytic anemia with hemoglobin of 9.7 gm/dl and reticulocyte count of 4.8%. Upon further digging into the history, she mentioned that she had been periodically visiting hematology clinic, although she did not remember the reason for that. Once we contacted the