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Aim of the Study: This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and risk factors for suicidal ideations (SIs) and suicidal attempts (SAs) among elderly patients with depression, seeking treatment in psychiatric setups. Methodology: The study sample comprised 488 elderly patients (age ≥60 years) with depression recruited across eight centers. These patients were evaluated on the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale, Geriatric Depression Scale-30, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire-15 Scale, UCLA Loneliness Scale, Revised Social Connectedness Scale, and Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale. Results: “Wish to die” was present in one-fifth (21.7%) and about one-fourth (26.6%) of the study samples at the time of assessment and in the lifetime, respectively. Overall, one-fourth (25.8%; n = 126) of the participants had SIs at the time of assessment and two-fifths (41.5%; n = 203) had SIs in the lifetime. Overall, about one-tenth (9.2%) of the participants made an SA just before assessment and one-sixth (16.6%) had at least one SA in the lifetime. Compared to those with no SIs in the lifetime, those with current and lifetime SIs had lower age of onset and longer duration of illness, less often had a comorbid physical illness, more often had recurrent depressive disorder, had significantly higher anxiety as assessed on GAD-7 scale, and had significantly higher prevalence of loneliness and significantly higher prevalence of cognitive deficits. When those with any current and lifetime SAs and those with no lifetime SAs were compared, those with SAs had longer duration of current treatment and more often had comorbid physical illness and significantly higher cognitive deficits. Conclusions: The present study suggests that about one-fourth (25.8%) of the elderly with depression have SIs at the time of assessment and about two-fifths (41.5%) have lifetime SIs. About one-sixth of the elderly patients with depression make at least one SA in the lifetime and about one-tenth attempt suicide in recent past. In terms of risk factors for SIs and SAs, the present study suggests that the presence of comorbid anxiety, loneliness, and cognitive deficits possibly predispose the elderly to suicidal behaviors.

Background: Only a few studies have evaluated the similarities and differences between clinicians’ and caregivers’ rating of burden of caring for a person with chronic mental illness. Aim: To compare clinician-rated and caregiver-rated burden in a population of patients with either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, using two different scales to measure caregiver burden. Methodology: Caregivers of patients with schizophrenia ( n = 65) or bipolar disorder ( n = 57) completed the Hindi version of the Involvement Evaluation Questionnaire (Hindi-IEQ) by themselves. Clinicians rated the burden on the Family Burden Interview Schedule (FBI) based on semi-structured interview with the same caregivers. Results: Both total objective and subjective burden on the FBI (clinician ratings) demonstrated significant positive correlations with the total Hindi-IEQ (caregiver ratings) scores. Most areas of burden on the FBI correlated positively with the tension and the worrying-urging II subscales, as well as the total Hindi-IEQ scores. According to clinicians, a significantly higher percentage of caregivers of patients with schizophrenia were experiencing a moderate to severe degree of subjective burden; objective burden in this group was also significantly higher in the domains of effect on the mental health of caregivers. Contrastingly, caregivers of patients with bipolar disorder judged burden to be higher in this group than schizophrenia. Conclusions: There were many areas of agreement as well as some significant discrepancies between clinicians’ and caregivers’ assessment of burden in this population of patients. This suggests that a comprehensive evaluation of burden should include assessments by both clinicians and caregivers of patients.

To study the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in patients with bipolar disorder.By using purposive random sampling 200 patients with bipolar disorder receiving treatment were evaluated for presence of metabolic syndrome using International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and modified National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP ATP-III) criteria.Eighty patients fulfilled IDF criteria and 82 patients met NCEP ATP-III criteria for metabolic syndrome. There was significant concordance between these two criteria sets for metabolic syndrome (Kappa value 0.979, p0.015). Among the individual parameters studied--increased waist circumference (70.1%) was the most common abnormality, followed by increased blood pressure (44.5%) and increased triglycerides levels (42%). Compared to patients without metabolic syndrome, patients with metabolic syndrome had significantly higher body mass index and higher percentage of them (74.4% vs 51.7%) were more than 35 years of age. Logistic regression analysis revealed that these two variables significantly predicted metabolic syndrome.Findings of the present study suggest that abdominal obesity is the most common abnormality and metabolic syndrome is best predicted in patients with bipolar disorder by higher age and higher body mass index.

Aim: The study aimed to examine the family burden and quality of life (QOL) of caregivers of patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). Methods: A cross-sectional assessment of 50 patients with OCD and their caregivers was carried out. The severity of OCD was assessed using the Yale–Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale. The caregivers were assessed using the Family Burden Interview Schedule and the World Health Organization Quality of Life BREF version (WHOQOL-BREF). Results: Fifty-six percent of caregivers reported a high objective burden. Severity of illness correlated with burden and impaired QOL of caregivers. Age of patient, longer duration of illness and longer duration of treatment were predictive of poorer QOL of caregivers in the physical health domain. Greater objective burden, disruption of family leisure and interaction due to OCD led to significantly poorer QOL in all domains in caregivers. Higher financial burden, perception of poorer mental health, and higher subjective burden were predictive of poorer physical, general health and general and psychological QOL, respectively. Conclusions: The study provides important insights into the QOL and perceived burden of caregivers of OCD patients. It highlights the need for improving the quality of care not only for patients but also for primary caregivers.

Background: Studies on clinical features of catatonia in the Indian population are few in number. Aim: To study the phenomenology, clinical profile and treatment response of subjects admitted to the psychiatry inpatient with catatonia. Materials and Methods: Detailed treatment records of all the inpatients were scanned for the period January 2004 to December 2008. Patients with catatonia (diagnosed as two symptoms as per the Bush Francis Catatonia Rating scale) were included. Results: During the study period, 1056 subjects were admitted in the inpatient unit, of which 51 (4.8% of the total admissions) had catatonic features and had been rated on the Bush Francis Catatonia Rating scale. The mean age of the sample was 30.02 years (SD=14.6; range 13-69), with an almost equal gender ratio. Most of the patients presenting with catatonia were diagnosed as having psychotic disorders (40; 74.8%), of which the most common diagnosis was schizophrenia (27; 52.9%) of the catatonic subtype (20; 39.2%). Three subjects with primary diagnosis of a psychotic disorder had comorbid depression. Other diagnoses included mood disorders (7; 13.72%) and organic brain syndromes (04; 7.9%). According to the Bush Francis Rating scale, the common signs and symptoms exhibited by the subjects were mutism (94.1%), followed by immobility/stupor (78.5%), staring (78.4%), negativism (74.5%), rigidity (63%) and posturing/catalepsy (61.8%). All the patients were initially treated with lorazepam. Electroconvulsive therapy was required in most cases (42; 82.35%). Conclusion: The common symptoms of catatonia are mutism, immobility/stupor, staring, posturing, negativism and rigidity. The most common underlying psychiatric diagnosis was schizophrenia.

Background There are few studies from India which have evaluated the usefulness and tolerability of clozapine from India. Aim To study the sociodemographic profile, clinical profile, comorbidity, side effects and outcome of subjects treated with clozapine. Methods and material For this study, the inpatient register was screened to obtain data of all patients admitted to the psychiatric inpatient unit during January 2000 to December 2006 and who were either started or continued on clozapine. Case records of 51 patients were taken up for the study. Results Majority of the patients who were started on clozapine were male (80.4%), single (70.6%), unemployed (70.6%), educated up to or beyond 10 years of schooling (86.3%) and belonged to nuclear families (64.7%). More than three-fourth's of them had received two or more adequate antipsychotic trials before being considered for clozapine. The mean dose of clozapine was 298.97 mg/day. During the inpatient stay (mean duration 63 days), there was significant reduction (34.7%) in PANSS rating after starting clozapine. Sialorrhoea was the most common side effect, reported by 58.8% of subjects. In terms of long term outcome at a mean duration of 3.99 (SD 3.13) years after starting clozapine, 37 cases were on clozapine at the time of last follow-up. While receiving clozapine, three cases developed leucopenia and four patients developed seizures. Conclusion Clozapine leads to reduction in psychopathology and sialorrhoea is the most common side effect reported.

Aim of the Study: This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of loneliness and its relationship with social connectedness and depression in elderly. Additional aims were to evaluate the demographic and clinical factors associated with loneliness and social connectedness in elderly patients with depression. Methodology: The study sample comprised 488 elderly patients (age ≥60 years) with depression recruited across 8 centers. These patients were evaluated on Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-30), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 Scale (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15) Scale, Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale, UCLA Loneliness Scale (LS), and Revised Social Connectedness Scale. Results: About three-fourth (77.3%) of the entire sample reported the presence of loneliness. With respect to specific loneliness symptom, 62.5% reported lack of companionship, 58.7% reported being left out in life, and 56.5% of the individuals reported felt isolated from others. No gender differences were noted in the prevalence of any loneliness symptom. Higher loneliness scores had significant positive correlation with severity of depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms as assessed by GDS-30, PHQ-15, and GAD-7, respectively, in individuals of both the genders. Higher social connectedness was associated with higher level of anxiety and lower loneliness in females only. Being currently single, older age, longer duration of illness, presence of family history of mental illness, presence of comorbid physical illness, and absence of substance abuse were associated with higher loneliness. With regard to suicidality, higher loneliness was associated with nonspecific active suicidal thoughts, active suicidal ideations with and without intent, nonsuicidal behavior, and higher intensity of suicidal ideations. Conclusions: About three-fourth of the elderly patients with depression also have associated loneliness. Loneliness is associated with higher severity of depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms. Severity of depression is associated with loneliness but not with social connectedness. Lower social connectedness among elderly females with depression is associated with higher loneliness, but this is not true for elderly males with depression.

Aim of the Study: This study aims to evaluate the prevalence of physical comorbidities and prescription patterns in elderly patients with depression. Materials and Methods: This study included 488 elderly patients (aged ≥60 years) with depression recruited across eight centers. A self-designed physical comorbidity checklist was used to assess for the presence of various physical comorbidities and prescription of psychotropic medications was recorded. Results: More than three-fourth of the study sample (n = 384; 78.7%) had at least one physical comorbidities and one-third (36.7%) of the samples had at least three physical illnesses. About half of the study samples had hypertension (47.3%) and slightly more than one-fourth had diabetes mellitus (29%). The most common physical illness involved the cardiovascular system (51.5%), followed by endocrinological system (39.3%), orthopedic and joint-related diseases (35%), and ophthalmological problems (22.3%). Those with physical comorbidity had higher severity of depression, anxiety, and somatic symptom. Sertraline was the most preferred antidepressant followed by escitalopram and mirtazapine. Only 12.7% of the sample was prescribed antipsychotics of which quetiapine and olanzapine were the most commonly used agents. Benzodiazepines were prescribed to more than half of the study samples (56.55%), with clonazepam being the most preferred benzodiazepine followed by lorazepam. Compared to those without hypertension, those with hypertension were more commonly prescribed sertraline and escitalopram and less commonly prescribed fluoxetine. Similarly, compared to those without diabetes mellitus, those with diabetes mellitus were more commonly prescribed sertraline and less commonly prescribed fluoxetine. Conclusion: Comorbid physical illnesses are highly prevalent in elderly participants with depression with hypertension being the most common physical comorbidity followed by diabetes mellitus and osteoarthritis. The presence of physical comorbidity is associated with more frequent prescription of sertraline and escitalopram.

Background: Research into substance use disorders (SUD) has been unable to unequivocally demonstrate effectiveness of treatment modalities. Aims: The aim of the study was to study the long-term outcome after in-patient treatment in a cohort of patients admitted for SUD in a deaddiction unit of a hospital in North India. Materials and Methods: The case notes of all in-patients with a primary diagnosis of alcohol and/or opioid dependence syndrome (F10.24 and F11.24) in the calendar year 2006 were examined. All patients without any physical or mental comorbidity other than comorbid SUD were included in the study. They were contacted telephonically or their case notes examined in September, 2007. Status regarding abstinence or relapse was determined and data was analyzed. Independent samples t- test and chi-square test were used for determining significance of difference between continuous and categorical variables respectively. Kaplan-Meier analysis was applied to find the survival times of different groups with the duration to relapse as variable of interest. Log rank test was applied to find the significance of differences in various groups. Cox's Regression analysis was applied to find the hazard ratio. Results and Conclusions: Data for 59.22% of patients included in the study were available for analysis. Mean survival time was 36.35 weeks (28.74-43.95, 95% CI) for patients across different groups, 36.71 weeks (26.24-47.18, 95% CI) for the alcohol group, 34.00 weeks (8.37-59.36, 95% CI) for natural opioids group, 37.53 weeks (26.33-48.73, 95% CI) for semi/synthetic opioids group and 17.00 weeks (3.39-30.60, 95% CI) for the mixed group. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that those who were following-up at time of evaluation had significantly longer durations to relapse. Deaddiction services should stress on keeping patients on follow-up as a means to better outcomes.

Although many studies in schizophrenia have evaluated health-care needs, there is a lack of data on the needs of patients with bipolar affective disorder (BPAD), with only occasional studies evaluating them, and no study has evaluated the relationship of health-care needs of patients with caregiver's burden.To study the relationship of caregiver's burden and needs of patients as perceived by caregivers of patients with BPAD and schizophrenia.Caregivers of patients with BPAD and schizophrenia were assessed using the Camberwell Assessment of Needs - Research version (CAN-R) and Supplementary Needs Assessment Scale (SNAS), the Family Burden Interview schedule (FBI) and the Involvement Evaluation Questionnaire (IEQ).Mean total needs of patients on CAN-R were 7.54 (SD 3.59) and 7.58 (SD 4.24) for BPAD and schizophrenia respectively. Mean total needs for SNAS were 7.24 (SD 3.67) and 7.68 (SD 5.02) for BPAD and schizophrenia groups, respectively. Total objective and subjective burden as assessed on FBI was significantly more for the schizophrenia group. Caregivers of patients with BPAD perceived significantly less disruption of routine family activities and lower impact on the mental health of others. On IEQ, the mean score on the domain of supervision was significantly higher for the BPAD group. In the schizophrenia group, positive correlations were seen between the total number of unmet and total (met and unmet) needs and certain aspects of burden, but no such correlations emerged in the BPAD group.There is no correlation between number of needs and burden in the BPAD group; however, in the schizophrenia group the number of needs correlated with the perceived burden. Accordingly, orienting services to address needs of patients with schizophrenia can lead to reduction in burden among caregivers.

Prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) was estimated in 227 patients with schizophrenia. A total of 43.6% of patients fulfilled International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria and 44.5% met modified National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel-III (NCEP ATP- III) criteria of MS. Increased waist circumference was the most common abnormality (64.8%) and high glucose level was the least common (15.9%). In regression analysis, age more than 35 years (OR-3.37), female gender (odds ratios (OR-1.81)), urban locality (OR-2.08), being employed (OR-2.12) and BMI more than 25 (OR-5.64) emerged as significant predictors of MS.

Objective: To study the prevalence and patterns of sexual dysfunctions in female patients receiving antidepressants. Materials and Methods: Eighty married female patients with a diagnosis of depressive disorder, currently in remission, and receiving a single antidepressant at least for 3 months, were assessed for sexual dysfunction on female sexual function index (FSFI) scale. Results: Thirty four patients (42.5%) receiving antidepressants had FSFI score less than 26.55 and were considered to have sexual dysfunction. When only the domain cutoff scores were used for the whole study sample ( n =80), it was found that 95% had decreased desire, 60% had decreased arousal, 37.5% had decreased lubrication, 63.8 had decreased orgasm, 55% had decreased satisfaction and 25% had pain during sexual activity. Conclusions: To conclude, our study suggests that sexual dysfunction is quite prevalent in married female patients receiving antidepressants and all the domains of sexual functioning are impaired by antidepressants.

The study aimed to examine the family burden and quality of life (QOL) of caregivers of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).A cross-sectional assessment of 50 patients with OCD and their caregivers was carried out. The severity of OCD was assessed using the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale. The caregivers were assessed using the Family Burden Interview Schedule and the World Health Organization Quality of Life BREF version (WHOQOL-BREF).Fifty-six percent of caregivers reported a high objective burden. Severity of illness correlated with burden and impaired QOL of caregivers. Age of patient, longer duration of illness and longer duration of treatment were predictive of poorer QOL of caregivers in the physical health domain. Greater objective burden, disruption of family leisure and interaction due to OCD led to significantly poorer QOL in all domains in caregivers. Higher financial burden, perception of poorer mental health, and higher subjective burden were predictive of poorer physical, general health and general and psychological QOL, respectively.The study provides important insights into the QOL and perceived burden of caregivers of OCD patients. It highlights the need for improving the quality of care not only for patients but also for primary caregivers.

Depression as a disorder has always been a focus of attention of researchers in India. Over the last 50-60 years, large number of studies has been published from India addressing various aspects of this commonly prevalent disorder. The various aspects studied included epidemiology, demographic and psychosocial risk factor, neurobiology, symptomatology, comorbidity, assessment and diagnosis, impact of depression, treatment related issues and prevention of depression in addition to the efficacy and tolerability of various antidepressants. Here, we review data on various aspects of depression, originating from India.

Early intervention (EI) programs in schizophrenia and other psychoses are aimed at early detection (ED) of the disease; prevent conversion to manifested psychosis and phase-specific treatment to reduce development of chronic disabilities. EI strategies include targeting people at "high risk" for developing schizophrenia, intervening in prodromal phase of schizophrenia, and reducing the "duration of untreated psychosis" (DUP). Services are delivered by a specialized team and are usually resource intensive. Several strategies like treatment with antipsychotics, family interventions, and cognitive behavior therapy have been tried with modest success in prodromal patients. Significant ethical reservations exist regarding exposing prodromal patients to the stigma of labeling as "high risk for schizophrenia" and side effects of psychotropics in the absence of clear evidence of efficacy in favor of ED, intervention by specialist teams, and phase-specific interventions in prodrome of psychosis. More research is warranted to demonstrate the risk-benefit and cost-benefit of such interventions before these can be routinely recommended.

Angioedema is characterised by oedema of the deep dermal and subcutaneous tissues and is reported as a rare adverse cutaneous reaction with risperidone, clozapine, ziprasidone, droperidol and chlorpromazine. Here we report a case of angioedema with risperidone. A 15-year-old boy diagnosed with schizophrenia was started on risperidone 1 mg/day, which was increased to 2 mg/day after 2 weeks. Within a week of increasing risperidone, he developed swelling over the face and feet. On examination he was found to have periorbital oedema and swollen lips. Following this, risperidone was stopped. Over the period of 1 week his oedema subsided, following which he was started on Haloperidol 5 mg/day, with which his psychosis improved significantly.

Clozapine has been used in the treatment of schizophrenia for about two decades and extensive data have been accumulated with regard to its use in various parts of the world. However, in contrast to Western countries, there are few studies which have evaluated the usefulness of clozapine in Indian patients. This article attempts to review the available data on clozapine originating from India. This review reflects the fact that there are few studies from the Indian subcontinent and most of these are case reports. In view of the same, there is a need for further research to evaluate the effectiveness of clozapine in India.