Urgent and nonurgent presentations to a psychiatric emergency service in Nigeria: pattern and correlates.

Psychiatric emergencies are acute mental health disturbances that require immediate intervention. However, the emergency department is increasingly being utilised for nonurgent mental health problems, thereby compromising the quality of care available for patients with urgent problems. This study assessed the level and correlates of urgency of mental health problems among patients presenting to an emergency department in Nigeria.

The Pathways to the First Contact with Mental Health Services among Patients with Schizophrenia in Lagos, Nigeria.

There is increasing evidence that delay in the commencement of treatment, following the onset of schizophrenia, may be related to the pathways patients navigate before accessing mental health care. Therefore, insight into the pattern and correlates of pathways to mental care of patients with schizophrenia may inform interventions that could fast track their contact with mental health professionals and reduce the duration of untreated psychosis. This study assessed the pathways to mental health care among patients with schizophrenia (n = 138), at their first contact with mental health services at the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Yaba Lagos, Nigeria.

Correlates of Caregiver Burden among Family Members of Patients with Schizophrenia in Lagos, Nigeria.

Family members of patients with schizophrenia have enormous roles in the care of their patients, which could negatively impact their well being. Development of interventions targeted at alleviating the burden of informal care giving is hinged on the recognition of the factors associated with the various dimensions of burden. This study determined the correlates of caregiver burden among family members of patients with schizophrenia in Lagos, Nigeria.

Symptom Profile and Severity in a Sample of Nigerians with Psychotic versus Nonpsychotic Major Depression.

The therapeutic strategies in managing patients with psychotic major depression (PMD) differ from those with non-psychotic major depression (NMD), because of differences in clinical profile and outcome. However, there is underrecognition of psychotic symptoms in depressed patients. Previous studies in Western population suggest that certain symptom patterns, apart from psychosis which may be concealed, can facilitate the discrimination of PMD from NMD.