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Introduction: Erectile Dysfunction (ED) is a common problem affecting men and it also negatively impacts mental health. A self administered questionnaire which is validated in local language will help in better detection of ED. Aim: To assess the reliability and validity of Malayalam version of 5 item International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5) in the Malayali population of India. Materials and Methods: This prospective observational study was done in Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, India. A total of 136 subjects were recruited into the study after taking written informed consent. Subjects were divided into two groups. Group I included 68 subjects who had complaints of ED and group II included 68 subjects who had no complaints of ED. The subjects were administered Malayalam translated IIEF-5 at baseline and after four weeks. Results: Internal consistency of the Malayalam IIEF-5 was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha and the whole scale had an excellent internal consistency of 0.90. The 5 items had an overall Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) of 0.91 showing a good test retest reliability. The Malayalam version was also highly sensitive and specific to the change in ED after four weeks. Conclusion: This study shows that the Malayalam version of IIEF-5 is a reliable and valid tool for assessment of ED, making it useful as an initial screening tool in a clinical setting. The ease of administering and favourable diagnostic properties of Malayalam IIEF-5 can help in the reducing the number of undiagnosed cases of ED.

Introduction: Suicide attempts in young adults have grown exponentially across the globe in the last three decades. Suicide is one of the most common cause of death among young adults worldwide. The studies on the coping styles influencing suicidal intent among young adult suicide attempters are few from the Indian context. Young adults are of utmost importance in any nation and interventions for suicide prevention have to be undertaken at different levels. Aim: To estimate the coping styles and suicidal intent among young adult suicide attempters and to assess the various coping styles associated with the suicidal intent. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study, which was carried out at the Suicide Prevention Clinic of the Department of Psychiatry at a Tertiary Care Centre in Kerala, India over a period of one year from October 2015 to September 2016. The consecutive 160 young adult suicide attempters were interviewed. Beck’s Suicide Intent Scale was used to assess the severity of suicide attempts. The coping styles of the participants were assessed using the Ways of Coping Questionnaire-Revised (WCQ-R) Scale. Statistical significance of socio-demographic factors, suicidal intent and coping styles were assessed by Independent Student t-test and One-way Analysis of variance (ANOVA). The correlation between the severity of suicidal intent and the coping styles were assessed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Results: The mean age of the participants were 21.75±2.69 years. The sample consisted of 72 (45%) males and 88 (55%) females. Out of the 160 participants, 50 (31.2%) had low suicidal intent, 71 (44.4%) had medium suicidal intent and 39 (24.4%) had high suicidal intent. The present study found that all the coping strategies except the escape avoidance and positive reappraisal are having significant association with the severity of suicidal intent with p<0.05. This study also found that seeking social support (r=-0.284, p<0.001), accepting responsibility (r=-0.344, p<0.001) and planned problem solving (r=-0.333, p<0.001) were coping styles which have a protective role in preventing suicidal behaviour by reducing the suicidal intent. Conclusion: This study had found significant correlation between the various coping styles and suicidal intent among the young adult suicide attempters in Kerala. The present study also found significant association between previous suicide attempt and co-morbid psychiatric diagnosis with the coping scores.

Background There is a compelling evidence for the relation between alcohol use and erectile dysfunction (ED), however the impact of alcohol abstinence on improvement of ED is explored sparsely. Aim This study aimed to determine the impact of alcohol abstinence on ED. The association between total duration of drinking, the quantity of alcohol consumed, sociodemographic, clinical variables and ED were also studied. Methods One hundred and four subjects with alcohol use disorder and complaints of ED meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria were recruited into the study after taking written informed consent. The subjects were assessed at baseline and after 3 months of abstinence from alcohol with IIEF-5 and a specially designed pro forma. Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to assess the change in ED after 3 months of abstinence. Chi square test was done to assess the associations and binary logistic regression was done to determine the significance of variables after 3 months of abstinence. Outcomes Improvement in ED after 3 months of abstinence from alcohol and its association between socio demographic and clinical variables were assessed. Results Of the 104 subjects studied, 88.5% (92) showed improvement in ED after 3 months of abstinence from alcohol. Wilcoxon signed rank test showed that the improvement in ED after 3 months of abstinence was significant. (Z = 8.708, P &lt; .001). Significant association was found between age, alcoholic liver disease, total duration of drinking, and number of standard drinks per day with ED after 3 months of abstinence. Clinical Implications Information that ED will improve with abstinence from alcohol can be used in deaddiction treatment to provide a motivation for change. Strength and Limitations This study aims to fill the gap in literature as only a few studies have examined the impact of abstinence from alcohol on ED. The main limitations of this study are short follow up period and since this study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital it could have given rise to Berksonian bias. Conclusion Results indicate that ED shows improvement with abstinence from alcohol. Absence of alcoholic liver disease, younger age, shorter duration of drinking, lesser number of standard drinks per day had a significant influence in the improvement of ED with alcohol abstinence and this information can be beneficial in treatment to provide an impetus for change.