The Global Mental Health Assessment Tool-validation in Hindi: A validity and feasibility study.

Background: A computer-assisted interview, the Global Mental Health Assessment Tool-validation (GMHAT/PC) has been developed to assist general practitioners and other health professionals to make a quick, convenient, yet reasonably comprehensive standardized mental health assessment. GMHAT/PC has been translated into various languages including Hindi. This is the first study conducted in India, using the Hindi version GMHAT/PC of the series of studies assessing its validity in different cultures.

Schizophrenia: Impact on quality of life.

Aims: The purpose of the present study was to assess quality of life (QOL) in patients with schizophrenia and to determine influence of clinical factors and socio-demographic variables on QOL of schizophrenic patients.

Setting And Design: Cross-sectional study carried out on outdoor patients attending Department of Psychiatry, SMS Medical College, Jaipur, India.

Materials And Methods: Fifty patients of schizophrenia diagnosed as per ICD - 10 with minimum duration of illness being two years and attending out patient department (OPD) at psychiatric centre or psychiatric clinic at SMS medical college, hospital, Jaipur, India for maintenance treatment fulfilling the criteria given below were registered.

Efficacy and tolerability of injectable sodium valproate in patients with mania.

Background: Sodium valproate is among the newer mood stabilizers and is also an anticonvulsant.

Aim: To assess the effect of intravenous sodium valproate in patients with acute manic episodes of bipolar disorder.

Methods: A 1-week open trial was conducted in the year 2004-2005 at the emergency ward of the Psychiatric Centre, SMS Medical College, Jaipur, in which 30 patients participated.