Knowledge of Depressive Illness among Non- Psychiatrist Doctors
Keywords:
Depressive illness, Knowledge, General practitioners, SymptomsAbstract
Objective: To ascertain the knowledge of non-psychiatrist doctors to suspect and diagnose Depressive Illness
presenting to them in garb of physical or somatic symptoms.
Methodology: This Descriptive cross sectional study was conducted at Social Security hospital in one year, from
January 2016- January 2017. A simple questionnaire was developed, asking three basic diagnostic symptoms of
depressive illness and the duration of illness needed for its diagnosis. Non-psychiatrist doctors from a tertiary care
hospital were given five minutes to complete it in front of the research officer.
Results: Three out of forty seven responding doctors knew about the three basic symptoms of depression with the
required duration for diagnosis.
Conclusions: A vast majority of the practising doctors or general practitioners are unaware of the characteristic
features of Depressive Illness. Therefore, non-psychiatrist doctors are unable to suspect or diagnose Depressive
illness.
References
WHO Fact sheet on Depression. 2015; 369
Qadir F, Haqqani S, Khalid A, Huma Z, Medhin G. A pilot study of depression among older people in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. BMC Res Notes. 2014; 28:7:409
Djernes JK. Prevalence and predictors of depression: a review. Acta Pshchiatrica Scandinavica 2006:113(5):372- 87
Almas A, Patel J, Ghori U, Ali A, Edhi AI, Khan MA. Depression is linked to uncontrolled hypertension: a case-control study from Karachi, Pakistan. J Ment Health. 2014; 23(6):292-6
Zahidie A, Jamali T. An overview of the predictors of depression among adult Pakistani women. JColl Physicians Surg Pak. 2013; 23(8):574-80
Humayun A, Haider II, Imran N, Iqbal H, Humayun
N. Antenatal depression and its predictors in Lahore, Pakistan. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal; Alexandria 2013;19(4):327-32
Gulamani SS, Shaikh K, Chagani J. Postpartum depre- ssion in Pakistan: a neglected issue. Norsewomen. 2013;17(2):147-52
Chadda RK. Psychiatry in non-psychiatric setting- a comparative study of physicians and surgeons. J Indian Med Assoc. 2001; 99(1):24, 26-7, 62
Ustün TB , Ayuso-Mateos JL, Chatterji S, Mathers C, Murray CJL. Global burden of depressive disorders in the year 2000. Br J Psychiatry. 2004; 184:386-92
Vos T, Barber RM, Bell B, Bertozzi-Villa A, Biryukov
S. Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 301 acute and chronic diseases and injuries in 188 countries, 1990–2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013. The Lancet. 2015; 386(9995): 743-800
Gadit AA. Economic Burden of Depression in Pakistan. Journal of Pakistan Medical Association. 2004; 54:43-4
Liu S, Lu R, Lee M. Non-psychiatric Physician’s Know- ledge, Attitudes and Behaviour Toward Depression. J Formos Med Assoc 2008; 107(12):921-31
Bowers J, Jorm AF, Henderson S, Harris P. General practitioners' detection of depression and dementia in elderly patients. Med J Aust. 1990;153 (4):192-6
Fernando SM, Deane FP, McLeod HJ. Sri Lankan doctors' and medical undergraduates' attitudes towards mental illness. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2010;45(7):733-9
James BO, Jenkins R, Lawani AO, Omoaregba JO. Depression in Primary Care: the knowledge, attitudes and practice of general practitioners in Benin city, Nigeria. S Afr Fam Pract 2012;54(1):55-60
Tharyan P, John T, Tharyan A, Braganza D. Attitudes of 'tomorrow's doctors' towards psychiatry and mental illness. Natl Med J India. 2001;14(6):355-9
Barke A, Nyarko S, Klecha D. The stigma of mental illness in Southern Ghana: attitudes of the urban popu- lation and patients' views. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2011; 46 (11): 1191- 202
Wilson S, Eagles JM, Platt JE, Mckenzie H. Core undergraduate psychiatry: what do non-specialists need to know? Med Educ. 2007;41(7):698-702
Ndetei DM, Khasakhala LI, Mutiso V, Mbwayo AW. Knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of mental illness among staff in general medical facilities in Kenya: practice and policy implications. Afr J Psychiatry (Johannesbg). 2011;14(3):225-35
Florenzano R. Ignacio Matte Blanco, MD, and the development of psychiatry teaching to medical students.[Article in Spanish]. Rev Med Chil. 2009; 137(9):1248-52
Sawyer MG, Giesen F, Walter G. Child psychiatry curricula in undergraduate medical education. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry, 2008; 47(2):139- 47
Ohtsuki T, Kodaka M, Sakai R, Ishikura F, Watanabe Y, Mann A, et al. Attitudes toward depression among Japanese non-psychiatric medical doctors: a cross- sectional study.BMC Res Notes. 2012; 5:441
Simon GE, Fleck M, Lucas R, Bushnell DM, Group
LIDO. Prevalence and Predictors of Depression Treatment in an International Primary Care study. The American Journal of Psychiatry. 2004; 161 (9):
-34
Borgeat F, Bernazzani O. Teaching psychotherapy to future non psychiatric physicians: a survey of the Canadian experiences. 1986; 31(8):741
King M, Davidson O, Taylor F, Haines A, Turner
R. Effectiveness of teaching general practitioners skills in brief cognitive behaviour therapy to treat patients with depression: randomised controlled
trial. BMJ 2002;324:947.doi: http://www.doi.org/ 10.1136/bmj.324.7343.947
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Raja Muhammad Shoaib, Tallat Najeeb, Tehreem Fatima Muzaffer
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Journal of Bahria University Medical & Dental College is an open access journal and is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0. which permits unrestricted non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0