Journal Issue: Volume: 26, Issue 3 (2004)
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Volume
Number
Issue Date
2004
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
ISSN (Print) : 1993-2979 | ISSN (Online) : 1993-2987
Journal Volume
Articles
Validation of the Nepali version of beck anxiety inventory
(Institute of Medicine, 2004) Kohrt, BA; Kunz, RD; Koirala, NR; Sharma, VD; Nepal, MK
Abstract
This study validates a Nepali version of the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). The instrument was compared against a gold standard diagnosis of generalized anxiety. The diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) was made according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition. GAD subjects were selected both from outpatients at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital and a rural sample from Jumla. Healthy (non-psychiatric diagnosis) cases were taken from a community sample in Jumla; their “healthy” status was obtained by achieving a score less than 2 on the Nepali General Health Questionnaire-12. This study identifies acceptable sensitivity and specificity ranges for the measure. A cut-off of 13/14 for the BAI provides sensitivity of 0.91 and specificity of 0.89. Reliability for the BAI is comparable to most studies in Western countries (0.89). A factor analysis of the BAI evokes four factors. A number of items reduce the validity and internal reliability of this measure. Somatic items poorly distinguish psychiatric cases; this may be due to high burden of physical illness in rural Nepal. Overall, the BAI appears to be a good instrument for clinical and research use in Nepal.
Key Words: Validation, Nepali, Beck, Anxiety, TUTH.
What do mothers know about Acute Respiratory Infection: a case from eastern Nepal
(Institute of Medicine, 2004) Onta, SR; Yengden, B
Abstract:
A descriptive study was conducted in Eastern Nepal with an objective to assess the knowledge of mothers about acute respiratory infection (ARI). Two hundred mothers, who had currently at least a child under five, from randomly selected households were interviewed. 50.5% of the mothers correctly knew the signs and symptoms of ARI without pneumonia; 45% had mixed responses. Only 2.5% of the responding mothers reported to have knowledge about danger signs of ARI, 39.5% had wrong answers and 12% did not know about the danger signs of ARI. Regarding knowledge about home care management, 50.5% had correct responses. Both the correct and wrong responses about knowledge of ARI were more or less equally distributed across the educational level, ethnicity and age group of responding mothers. It is concluded that knowledge of mothers about ARI in general is low, particularly very low on danger signs of ARI. This might have led to delayed specific treatment of children with ARI, which could have resulted in various complications including death.
Keywords: ARI; danger signs; maternal knowledge.
Behavioural medicine: an integration of psychology and health
(Institute of Medicine, 2004) Sinha, UK; Nepal, MK
Abstract:
The process of evolution in health sciences has followed a similar path from being analytical to synthesized or holistic. Multidisciplinary approach has taken over the specialized approach in the area of health care delivery that follows bio-psycho-social paradigm in the understanding and management of health problems in the general hospital setting. Emergene of Behavioural Medicine is the result of such evolutionary process. Behavioural Medicine is the interdisciplinary field concerned with the development and integration of behavioural and biomedical sciences, knowledge, and techniques relevant to health and illness and the application of this knowledge and these techniques to prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation. The present article reviews the historical aspects of the emergence of Behavioural Medicine on the background of biopsychosocial model and impact of life-style factors on health along with the clinical application and role of Behavioural Medicine in the primary prevention. Relevance of Behavioural Medicine in the context of Nepal, and the contribution of clinical psychologists in the health care system of the country along with the need for accepting them in the mainstream of health professionals are highlighted.
Keywords: Behavioural Medicine, biopsychosocial model, primary prevention, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation.
HIV-TB Co-infection in Nepal
(Institute of Medicine, 2004) Suvedi, BK
Abstract:
Tuberculosis is considered as a major co-infection in AIDS. It is a serous challenge to Nepal. The incidence of TB as the life time risk of developing TB in HIV infected person is 50%. It is estimated that in the year 2002, some 2.4% might have TB-HIV co-infection in Nepal. The most frequently affected age group is 20-29 years. The central and western region of Nepal has highest number of HIV-TB co-infection.
Keywords: HIV, Tuberculosis, Nepal.
Acute Retinal Necrosis Syndrome: A case report
(Institute of Medicine, 2004) Shrestha, JK; Tsering, N
Abstract;
The acute retinal necrosis (ARN) syndrome represents a specific pattern of clinical presentation for certain herpes virus infections in the posterior segment of the eye. First described in the Japanese literature in 1971 and termed Kirisawa uveitis, it has till today remained a visually devastating condition in most of the cases. A female adult patient presented to us with classical picture of this syndrome and was managed with oral acyclovir and corticosteroid that responded well with this modality of treatment.