BackgroundPatients suffering from psychiatric disorders tend to stigmatise themselves which had been linked to poor adherence to treatment.AimsThe aim of the present study was to study internalised stigma and medication adherence and to assess the relationship between them in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted on 112 patients diagnosed with OCD who were attending the Out-patient's department at Department of Psychiatry of a tertiary care hospital in North India. Internalised stigma and current medication adherence were assessed with Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Scale (ISMI) and Medication Adherence Rating Scale, respectively. Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale was used to assess the current severity of OCD symptoms. Sociodemographic and clinical details were also obtained from the patients by using a semistructured sociodemographic proforma.ResultsMost of the patients reported moderate level of internalised stigma with a mean ISMI score of 77.98 (10.82). Most of the patients were compliant while 41.96% reported poor medication adherence. Internalised stigma was negatively correlated with the current medication adherence. Current severity of OCD symptoms also showed a significant positive correlation with internalised stigma and a significant negative correlation with medication adherence.ConclusionHigh levels of internalised stigma were associated with lower adherence to treatment which suggests that internalised stigma may be a very important factor influencing medication adherence in patients with OCD.

Alcoholics with a family history of the disease are said to present more severe consequences than alcoholics without such a history. This study examined the frequency distribution of severe alcohol dependence and police arrests for public drunkenness across samples of alcoholics with (n = 77) and without (n = 37) a family history of alcoholism. Both the percentage of subjects presenting severe dependence and the history of police arrests were greater in the positive family history group, but these differences did not reach conventional levels of statistical significance. However, results of logistic regression analyses demonstrate that male sex, younger age and, above all, severity of alcohol dependence, are better correlates of the occurrence of police arrests than is the subject's family history of alcoholism. The picture presented by this sample of outpatient alcoholics appears to qualify some currently held assumptions of the influence of family history on the phenomenology of alcoholism.

Chemotherapy occupies a pivotal role in the recovery process of cancerous patient. A descriptive study was undertaken to assess the knowledge regarding home care management of patients undergoing chemotherapy among primary caretaker in a tertiary hospital, Lucknow. A total of 100 primary caretakers were selected by purposive sampling. The level of knowledge was assessed in areas of medication management at home and side effects, dietary management, neutropenic precautions to be followed at home, when to seek medical help and complications of chemotherapy. The findings of the study brought out that there was a lack of family caregiver’s knowledge regarding chemotherapy and it is necessary to have a tailored health education programme for family caregivers of patients undergoing chemotherapy to prepare them with required knowledge and skills.

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