Background:Vitiligo is an acquired discoloration of skin and mucous membrane of great cosmetic importance affecting 1-4% of the world's population. It causes disfiguration in all races, more so in dark-skinned people because of strong contrast. Men, women, and children with vitiligo face severe psychological and social disadvantage.Aim:To assess the impact of the disease on the quality of life of patients suffering from vitiligo, also to ascertain any psychological morbidity like depression associated with the disease and to compare the results with that of healthy control group.Materials and Methods:Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) are administered to 100 vitiligo patients presenting to the Dermatology OPD and 50 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Results were analyzed and compared with that of control group. Findings are also correlated in relation to demographic and clinical profile of the disease. Statistical analysis is made to see the significance.Results:Vitiligo-affected patients had significantly elevated total DLQI scores (P < 0.001) compared to healthy controls. There is increase in parameters like itch, embarrassment, social and leisure activities in the patient cohort than the control group. Patients of vitiligo are also found to be more depressed (P < 0.001) than the controls.Conclusion:Quality of life (QOL) in patients affected with vitiligo declined more severely, and also there is increase in incidence of depression than in the control group. These changes are critical for the psychosocial life of the affected people.

Background & objectives:Limited data are available on prescription patterns of the antidepressants from India. We studied antidepressants’ prescription pattern from five geographically distant tertiary psychiatric care centers of the India.Method:In this cross-sectional study, all patients who attended outpatients department or were admitted in the psychiatry wards at Lucknow, Chandigarh, Tiruvalla, Mumbai and Guwahati on a fixed day, who were using or had been prescribed antidepressant medications, were included. The data were collected on a unified research protocol.Results:A total of 312 patients were included. Mean age was 39±14.28 yr and 149 (47.76%) were females, 277 (87.5%) were outpatients. Among the patients receiving antidepressants, 150 (48.1%) were of diagnoses other than depression. Diabetes mellitus 18 (5.78%) was the most common co-morbid medical illness. A total of 194 (62.2%) patients were using selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) with escitalopram 114 (36.53%) being the most common antidepressant used. Overall, 272 (87.18%) patients were using newer antidepressants. Thirty (9.62%) were prescribed more than one antidepressant; 159 (50.96%) patients were prescribed hypnotic or sedative medications with clonazepam being the most common (n=116; 37.18%).Interpretation & conclusions:About half of the patients with diagnoses other than depression were prescribed antidepressants. SSRIs were the most common group and escitalopram was the most common medication used. Concomitant use of two antidepressants was infrequent. Hypnotic and sedatives were frequently prescribed along with antidepressants.

BACKGROUNDBurnout is a feeling of failure and exhaustion. It is felt both at the physical and emotional level. Depletion of the person's resources is a consequence and also has an impact on the organisation. Nature of the work itself makes emergency healthcare workers vulnerable to burnout.

Background/Aims: Through conceptualising poor insight in psychotic disorders as a form of anosognosia, frontal lobe dysfunction is often ascribed a vital role in its pathogenesis. The objective of this study was to compare the relation of insight in patients with psychotic illness to that of psychopathology and frontal lobe function. Methods: Forty patients with psychotic disorder were selected from those attending the Department of Psychiatry in a tertiary care teaching hospital. The evaluation of insight was carried out using the Schedule for Assessment of Insight (SAI), that of frontal lobe function by the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) and psychopathology by the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS). The correlation coefficients were determined. Results: A negative correlation between SAI and BPRS scores means that the BPRS score is opposite to SAI scores. When the SAI total score was compared with the FAB total score, the correlation coefficient demonstrated a positive correlation. Better insight predicted lesser psychopathology and also that poor insight would exist with greater psychopathology. Better insight predicted a higher functional status of frontal lobes and prefrontal cortex in particular. Conclusion: Insight deficits in schizophrenia and other psychotic illnesses are multidimensional. Integration of different aetiological factors like biological, psychopathological, environmental ones and others are necessary for a better understanding of insight in psychosis.

Aims and objectives: This study aims to assess the prevalence of abnormal involuntary movement in never medicated patients with schizophrenia and to find its relation with demographic variables, and with the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia; this study also aims to assess the topography of the dyskinesia. Methodology: Socio-demographic data of 100 consecutively selected patients who fulfilled the ICD-10 Diagnostic Criteria for Research were collected in a 12-month period. These patients were rated with the Positive And Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS). Patients were labeled as having spontaneous dyskinesia if they fulfilled the criteria of Schooler and Kane which needs a score of two (mild) in at least two areas or score of three (moderate) or four (severe) in one area. Results: Fifty two per cent of the study samples were male and 48% were female with mean age of 30.72 years with standard deviation of 8.7 years. Sixteen per cent of the patients had dyskinesia when examined with AIMS. However, only 14% fulfilled the Schooler and Kane’s criteria for spontaneous dyskinesia. A strong correlation was found between the presence of dyskinesia and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. 57.1% of these 14 patients had dyskinesia located in their oral and facial region. Seventy one per cent of these patients with dyskinesia had no awareness of their involuntary movements. Conclusions: Spontaneous dyskinesia, negative symptoms, and lack of awareness of the abnormal involuntary movement can be taken as one of the presenting symptoms of schizophrenia.