| 1. |
- Alem, Atalay, et al.
(författare)
-
Awareness and attitudes of a rural Ethiopian community toward suicidal behaviour. A key informant study in Butajira, Ethiopia.
- 1999
-
Ingår i: Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Supplementum. - : Wiley. - 0065-1591 .- 1600-5473 .- 0001-690X .- 1600-0447. ; 100:S397, s. 65-69
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- One hundred key informants were interviewed regarding their awareness and attitudes toward suicidal behaviour. Eighty-eight informants were male, 58 were Muslim and 42 were Christian. Informants on average, claimed to know more persons who had completed suicide than those who had attempted suicide. Almost all informants mentioned more than one cause for suicide. Of these, frustration was the most frequently mentioned cause. Most informants believed that suicide attempters are cruel, feared and not trustworthy. Their attitude toward suicide completers was expressed as condemned sinners, do not deserve funeral ceremony, and should be buried separately from others. Christians gave importance to the funeral issue more than did the Muslims. Generally, the attitudes of informants were punitive and disapproving.
|
|
| 2. |
- Alem, Atalay, et al.
(författare)
-
How are mental disorders seen and where is help sought in a rural Ethiopian community? A key informant study in Butajira, Ethiopia.
- 1999
-
Ingår i: Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Supplementum. - : Wiley. - 0065-1591 .- 1600-5473 .- 0001-690X .- 1600-0447. ; 100:S397, s. 40-47
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- One hundred key informants were interviewed about their awareness, attitudes and practices regarding mental illness using the Key Informant Questionnaire developed by WHO. Case vignettes of seven common neuropsychiatric disorders were presented to the key informants. Informants' awareness about these disorders and help-seeking practices for mental and physical symptoms or conditions were assessed. An additional question on the prototype symptoms of mental disorders was also posed. Among the presented seven conditions, epilepsy was perceived as the most common condition and major depression was regarded as the least common one. Schizophrenia was judged as the most severe problem, and mental retardation was considered the second most severe condition. Talkativeness, aggression and strange behaviour were the most frequently perceived prototype symptoms of mental illness. Traditional treatment methods were preferred more often for treating symptoms of mental disorders and modern medicine was preferred more often for treating physical diseases or symptoms. Findings of this study are similar to other studies conducted in socio-culturally different communities. Working in close connection with traditional healers would give the primary health care worker a better opportunity to gain acceptance from the community and modify certain harmful practices.
|
|
| 3. |
- Alem, Atalay, et al.
(författare)
-
Suicide attempts among adults in Butajira, Ethiopia.
- 1999
-
Ingår i: Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Supplementum. - : Wiley. - 0065-1591 .- 1600-5473 .- 0001-690X .- 1600-0447. ; 100:S397, s. 70-76
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In a cross-sectional survey, 10,468 adults of a rural and semi-urban community were interviewed to determine lifetime suicide attempts. Among the study population, 58% were female, 74.4% were Muslim and 79.3% had had no formal education. The majority of the population were in the age group 25-59 years. Lifetime suicide attempt was reported by 3.2% (n = 332) of the study population. Of these, 63% (n = 208) were women. The most frequent age of attempt was between 15 and 24 years and the frequency of attempt decreased with increasing age. Hanging and poisoning were the most frequently reported methods of attempting suicide. Marital or family conflict was the most frequently reported cause for attempting suicide and most of those who reported this cause were women (Chi-square = 17.42; P < 0.001). Men were significantly more likely to use hanging to attempt suicide than women (Chi-square = 8.21; P < 0.001). Among Christians 3.9% had a lifetime suicide attempt compared to 2.9% among Muslims (Chi-square = 6.15; P < 0.05). People who currently had mental distress and problem drinking reported lifetime suicide attempt more often than others.
|
|
| 4. |
- Alem, Atalay, et al.
(författare)
-
The epidemiology of problem drinking in Butajira, Ethiopia.
- 1999
-
Ingår i: Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Supplementum. - : Wiley. - 0065-1591 .- 1600-5473 .- 0001-690X .- 1600-0447. ; 100:S397, s. 77-83
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In order to determine the prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of problem drinking, a total of 10,468 persons aged 15 and above, most residing in a rural district, were interviewed using the CAGE questionnaire as an important element of a general mental health survey. Twenty-three per cent of the respondents admitted that they currently drank alcohol. The prevalence of alcohol drinking was 15% for women and 36% for men. Among those who drank, 16% met the criterion for problem drinking as defined by two or more positive responses to the CAGE. The overall prevalence for problem drinking was found to be 3.7%. Stratified analysis for sex showed that Christian religion, male sex, being ethnically non-Gurage, and smoking were strongly associated with problem drinking in both sexes. Marital status, mental distress and income were found to be associated factors with problem drinking only in men.
|
|
| 5. |
- Alem, Atalay, et al.
(författare)
-
The prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of khat chewing in Butajira, Ethiopia.
- 1999
-
Ingår i: Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Supplementum. - : Wiley. - 0065-1591 .- 1600-5473 .- 0001-690X .- 1600-0447. ; 100:S397, s. 84-91
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A house-to-house survey was carried out in a rural Ethiopian community to determine the prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of khat use. A total of 10,468 adults were interviewed. Of these, 58% were female, and 74% were Muslim. More than half of the study population (55.7%) reported lifetime khat chewing experience and the prevalence of current use was 50%. Among current chewers, 17.4% reported taking khat on a daily basis; 16.1% of these were male and 3.4% were female. Various reasons were given for chewing khat; 80% of the chewers used it to gain a good level of concentration for prayer. Muslim religion, smoking and high educational level showed strong association with daily khat chewing.
|
|
| 6. |
- Alem, Atalay, et al.
(författare)
-
The prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of mental distress in Butajira, Ethiopia.
- 1999
-
Ingår i: Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Supplementum. - : Wiley. - 0065-1591 .- 1600-5473 .- 0001-690X .- 1600-0447. ; 100:S397, s. 48-55
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 10,468 rural and semi-urban adults in an Ethiopian district using the Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ) to detect the prevalence of mental distress and its association with socio-demographic risk factors. Fifty-eight per cent of the study population were women, 74% were Muslim, 79% were illiterate. Those experiencing 11 or more symptoms out of the 20 SRQ items were considered as having mental distress. Accordingly, the prevalence of mental distress was 17%, which is comparable with the previous hospital-based studies in Ethiopia and elsewhere. However, it was higher than the previous community-based studies in Ethiopia. Mental distress was more prevalent among women. Part of the explanation was that women in the study population were older and that they were more often widowed or divorced, which were factors associated with mental distress. Illiteracy, which was more common among women and older individuals, was also independently associated with mental distress.
|
|
| 7. |
- Alsén, Margot, et al.
(författare)
-
Medicine self-poisoning and the sources of the drugs in Lund, Sweden
- 1994
-
Ingår i: Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. - : Wiley. - 1600-0447 .- 0001-690X. ; 89:4, s. 255-261
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of toxic agents in attempted and completed suicides. The purpose was also to explore the sources of the drugs taken by suicide attempters. Verbal information on drug intake was collected from 280 suicide attempters during 1987-1990 in the Lund-Orup catchment area. Information on the sources of the drugs was collected from 143 of these attempters. The study also includes toxicological screening from 73 fatal poisonings in southern Sweden during 1989. According to verbal information, the most common drugs used by suicide attempters were benzodiazepines (51%), analgesics (29%) and antidepressants (20%). In suicide attempters, diazepam and levomepromazine were reported more than expected from prescription data. Toxicological screenings of fatal poisonings showed that benzodiazepines were most common (55%), followed by analgesics (38%), mainly propoxyphene (29%) and antidepressants (30%), mainly amitriptyline (22%). Amitriptyline and diazepam were more commonly detected in completed suicides than expected from prescription data. The most common sources of drugs to attempted suicides were physicians, and especially psychiatrists. We therefore conclude that continuous information to physicians on drug overdose is important, and it is also important to introduce alternative strategies to prevent suicidal behaviour.
|
|
| 8. |
- Eklund, Mona, et al.
(författare)
-
Relationships between characteristics of the ward atmosphere and treatment outcome in a psychiatric day-care unit based on occupational therapy
- 1997
-
Ingår i: Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. - : Wiley. - 1600-0447 .- 0001-690X. ; 95:4, s. 329-335
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The relationships between characteristics of the ward atmosphere and treatment outcome in a psychiatric day-care unit were investigated. The treatment programme was based on occupational group therapy and included long-term mentally ill patients, equally distributed with regard to psychosis and non-psychosis diagnoses. The ward atmosphere was rated on the Community-Oriented Programs Environment Scale (COPES), and outcome variables concerned symptoms, global mental health, quality of life, and functioning in daily life. The COPES ratings were re-coded in order to control for the fact that different levels of ward atmosphere factors are recommended for psychotic and non-psychotic patients. The results revealed that an optimal initial level of anger and aggression in treatment was significantly associated with improvement in global mental health and functioning in everyday life. Initial optimal levels of staff control and practical orientation were significantly associated with improvement in psychiatric symptoms. The characteristics of the ward atmosphere at the end of the treatment period were significantly correlated with various aspects of functioning in daily life. The study demonstrated associations with outcome variables not previously linked with ward atmosphere characteristics, e.g. functioning in daily life and quality of life.
|
|
| 9. |
- Fribergh, H, et al.
(författare)
-
The Meta-Contrast Technique : a projective test predicting suicide
- 1992
-
Ingår i: Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. - : Wiley. - 0001-690X .- 1600-0447. ; 86:6, s. 7-473
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sixty-nine inpatients who had attempted suicide were studied by means of the Meta-Contrast Technique (MCT), a projective test measuring personality factors, especially defensive strategies. The patients were divided into 3 subgroups, one of which was defined as stereotypy only, which denotes stereotypy (perceptual retardation) without any other coded defenses. At follow-up 7 of 8 completed suicides belonged to this subgroup and they matched various main diagnoses according to DSM-III-R. When the MCT findings of all patients were compared with 99 depressed inpatients from a previous study, the latter group more often had mature defensive strategies. In both investigations most completed suicides were found in the stereotypy only group. Our findings indicate that, regardless of psychiatric diagnosis, stereotypy without other defenses in MCT predicts suicide.
|
|
| 10. |
- Johnsson Fridell, E., et al.
(författare)
-
A 5-year follow-up study of suicide attempts
- 1996
-
Ingår i: Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. - : Wiley. - 0001-690X .- 1600-0447. ; 93:3, s. 151-157
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Seventy-five patients were admitted to the ward of the Lund Suicide Research Center following a suicide attempt. After 5 years, the patients were followed up by a personal semistructured interview covering sociodemographic, psychosocial and psychiatric areas. Ten patients (13%) had committed suicide during the follow-up period, the majority within 2 years. They tended to be older at the index attempt admission, and most of them had a mood disorder in comparison with the others. Two patients had died from somatic diseases. Forty-two patients were interviewed, of whom 17 (40%) had reattempted during the follow-up period, most of them within 3 years. Predictors for reattempt were young age, personality disorder, parents having received treatment for psychiatric disorder, and a poor social network. At the index attempt, none of the reattempters had diagnoses of adjustment disorders or anxiety disorders. At follow-up, reattempters had more psychiatric symptoms (SCL-90), and their overall functioning (CAF) was poor compared to those who did not reattempt. All of the reattempters had had long-lasting treatment (> 3 years) as compared to 56% of the others. It is of great clinical importance to focus on treatment strategies for the vulnerable subgroup of self-destructive reattempters.
|
|
