Prevalence and correlates of cognitive impairment in schizophrenia: a cross-sectional study from a teaching hospital southern Sri Lanka.

Introductions: This study assessed the prevalence of cognitive impairment, the degree of impairment in individual cognitive domains and sociodemographic and clinical correlates among patients attending to psychiatry clinics at Teaching Hospital, Karapitiya, Sri Lanka.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out at the psychiatry outpatient clinics of Teaching Hospital, Karapitiya, Sri Lanka. Their cognitive functions were assessed using the culturally validated Sinhala version of Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination - III (ACE-III-S).

Locked in grief: a qualitative study of grief among family members of missing persons in southern Sri Lanka.

Introduction: The psychological and social issues experienced by family members of missing persons are different from normal grief following the death of a loved one. The term "Ambiguous loss" describes this psychological phenomenon. Ambiguous loss acts as a barrier to adjusting to grief, leading to symptoms of depression and intra and interpersonal relational conflicts.

Prevalence and predictors of new onset depression in the acute phase of stroke.

Introduction: Post-stroke depression (PSD) is known to be associated with poor functional outcome and high mortality. There is limited data on the prevalence and associated factors of depression in the acute phase after stroke.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of PSD in the acute phase and its correlates among patients with stroke in a tertiary care hospital in Sri Lanka.

Unconfirmed death as a predictor of psychological morbidity in family members of disappeared persons.

Background: The 2004 tsunami, the civil conflict until 2009 and the youth insurrection in the late 1980s in Sri Lanka resulted in many persons being classified as 'missing' as they disappeared and were unaccounted for. Our aim was to compare the prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD) and prolonged grief disorder (PGD) in families of disappeared individuals, who eventually received the mortal remains and those who did not.

Method: An ethically approved cross sectional study was conducted in a purposively selected sample after informed consent.

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial on the role of preemptive analgesia with acetaminophen [paracetamol] in reducing headache following electroconvulsive therapy [ECT].

Background: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a safe and efficient treatment for several severe psychiatric disorders, but its use is limited by side effects. Post-ECT headache is one of the commonest side effects. Preemptive analgesia is effective in post-surgical pain management.