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Your search keyword '"MENTAL health"' showing total 2 results
Start Over Descriptor "MENTAL health" Topic behavioral and social aspects of health Topic medicine Publication Year Range Last 50 years Journal plos neglected tropical diseases
2 results on '"MENTAL health"'

1. A Mixed Methods Study of a Health Worker Training Intervention to Increase Syndromic Referral for Gambiense Human African Trypanosomiasis in South Sudan.

Author

Palmer, Jennifer J., Surur, Elizeous I., Checchi, Francesco, Ahmad, Fayaz, Ackom, Franklin Kweku, and Whitty, Christopher J. M.

Subjects
*MEDICAL personnel training, *AFRICAN trypanosomiasis, *PROTOZOAN diseases, *HEALTH facilities
Abstract

Background: Active screening by mobile teams is considered the most effective method for detecting gambiense-type human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) but constrained funding in many post-conflict countries limits this approach. Non-specialist health care workers (HCWs) in peripheral health facilities could be trained to identify potential cases for testing based on symptoms. We tested a training intervention for HCWs in peripheral facilities in Nimule, South Sudan to increase knowledge of HAT symptomatology and the rate of syndromic referrals to a central screening and treatment centre. Methodology/Principal Findings: We trained 108 HCWs from 61/74 of the public, private and military peripheral health facilities in the county during six one-day workshops and assessed behaviour change using quantitative and qualitative methods. In four months prior to training, only 2/562 people passively screened for HAT were referred from a peripheral HCW (0 cases detected) compared to 13/352 (2 cases detected) in the four months after, a 6.5-fold increase in the referral rate observed by the hospital. Modest increases in absolute referrals received, however, concealed higher levels of referral activity in the periphery. HCWs in 71.4% of facilities followed-up had made referrals, incorporating new and pre-existing ideas about HAT case detection into referral practice. HCW knowledge scores of HAT symptoms improved across all demographic sub-groups. Of 71 HAT referrals made, two-thirds were from new referrers. Only 11 patients completed the referral, largely because of difficulties patients in remote areas faced accessing transportation. Conclusions/Significance: The training increased knowledge and this led to more widespread appropriate HAT referrals from a low base. Many referrals were not completed, however. Increasing access to screening and/or diagnostic tests in the periphery will be needed for greater impact on case-detection in this context. These data suggest it may be possible for peripheral HCWs to target the use of rapid diagnostic tests for HAT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published
2014
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2. Delayed Psychological Morbidity Associated with Snakebite Envenoming

Author

Andrew H. Dawson, Nicholas A. Buckley, H. Janaka de Silva, David G. Lalloo, Shaluka Jayamanne, Chamara A. Wijesinghe, and Shehan Williams

Subjects
Male, Physical disability, RC955-962, Snake Bites, Global Health, Severity of Illness Index, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, 0302 clinical medicine, Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine, Surveys and Questionnaires, Depression (differential diagnoses), wm_140, Psychiatry, 0303 health sciences, Depression, Middle Aged, Anxiety Disorders, Checklist, Socioeconomic Aspects of Health, 3. Good health, Infectious Diseases, Mental Health, Medicine, Female, Public Health, Headaches, medicine.symptom, Public aspects of medicine, RA1-1270, Behavioral and Social Aspects of Health, wd_410, Research Article, Adult, Weakness, medicine.medical_specialty, Adolescent, 030231 tropical medicine, wa_395, Life Change Events, 03 medical and health sciences, Severity of illness, medicine, Humans, 030304 developmental biology, Sri Lanka, Chi-Square Distribution, business.industry, Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health, Beck Depression Inventory, medicine.disease, Snake bites, Unemployment, Case-Control Studies, Morbidity, business
Abstract

Introduction The psychological impact of snakebite on its victims, especially possible late effects, has not been systematically studied. Objectives To assess delayed somatic symptoms, depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and impairment in functioning, among snakebite victims. Methods The study had qualitative and quantitative arms. In the quantitative arm, 88 persons who had systemic envenoming following snakebite from the North Central Province of Sri Lanka were randomly identified from an established research database and interviewed 12 to 48 months (mean 30) after the incident. Persons with no history of snakebite, matched for age, sex, geograpical location and occupation, acted as controls. A modified version of the Beck Depression Inventory, Post-Traumatic Stress Symptom Scale, Hopkins Somatic Symptoms Checklist, Sheehan Disability Inventory and a structured questionnaire were administered. In the qualitative arm, focus group discussions among snakebite victims explored common somatic symptoms attributed to envenoming. Results Previous snakebite victims (cases) had more symptoms than controls as measured by the modified Beck Depression Scale (mean 19.1 Vs 14.4; p, Author Summary Snakebite envenoming is a neglected public health problem, especially in rural areas of tropical and sub-tropical countries. Little is known about the long term effects, and even less about the possible psychological effects, of snakebites and envenoming. We investigated the possible psychological impact of snakebite in 88 persons who had been envenomed 1 to 4 years ago in a rural agricultural area in Sri Lanka by using accepted measurements of psychological disability and group discussions among victims. 88 persons from the same areas who had not been bitten by a snake, but were of similar age, sex and occupation were also assessed in a similar manner. Compared to those who had not been bitten, snakebite victims had significantly more symptoms suggesting psychological disability, depression and post-traumatic stress. More than a fourth of those bitten claimed that the snakebite caused a negative change in their employment, and 10% had stopped working altogether. 17% claimed to have residual physical disability which they attributed to the bite, although no disability could be detected when they were examined. These findings indicate that snakebite results in ongoing psychological disability even 1 to 4 years after the episode, a complication that has not been previously reported.

Published
2011

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