Comparison of the prevalence of psychiatric co-morbidities in hepatitis C patients and hepatitis B patients in Saudi Arabia.

Background/aim: Hepatitis C is a major health concern world-wide and is frequently associated with psychiatric co-morbidity. The most common genotype in Saudi Arabia differs from genotypes prevalent elsewhere and thus we aimed to determine if psychiatric disturbances occur in Saudi patients infected with hepatitis C and whether these symptoms extend to those infected with hepatitis B.

Materials And Methods: Data were collected from hepatitis C and hepatitis B patients using the general health questionnaire (GHQ-28) and The Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) questionnaires.

Healthcare seeking behavior among subjects with irritable bowel syndrome.

The behaviors exhibited by individuals who seek healthcare for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are numerous, varied, and sometimes controversial, and/or inconsistent. This study aims to review the factors associated with these healthcare seeking behaviors. Through a selective review of the literature, articles were identified by using the following search terms: IBS, healthcare seeking, conventional and non-conventional treatment, cultural factors, and gender differences.

Accuracy of referring psychiatric diagnosis.

Background: The author examined the accuracy of the initial psychiatric diagnosis of primary medical providers requesting psychiatric consultation in a medical inpatient setting in a university hospital.

Methods: A retrospective review of 217 consecutive psychiatric consultations was conducted in which the initial diagnostic impression of primary medical providers was compared with the final psychiatric diagnosis.

Results: The accuracy of psychiatric diagnosis was the highest for cognitive disorders 60%, followed by depression 50% and anxiety disorders 46%, whereas the accuracy of diagnosing psychosis was 0%.

Neuropsychiatric side-effects of interferon alfa therapy for hepatitis C and their management: a review.

Background: Interferon-Alfa (IFN-alpha) has been the mainstay of treatment for chronic hepatitis C. It has the potential to alter the course of chronic hepatitis C and prevent complications.

Aims: This review summarizes current knowledge about the presentation, mechanism, course, and treatment of neuropsychiatric problems associated with interferon alfa (IFN-alpha) treatment.

Establishing a consultation-liaison psychiatry service. Impact on clinical indices.

Objective: To show prospectively the impact of establishing a consultation-liaison (C/L) psychiatry model on the consultation clinical indices.

Methods: A structured, organized model of C/L psychiatry was established in 1990 at King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and all clinical indices of the psychiatric consultations were compared prospectively over the first 3 years after January 1990 with those over the previous 2 years retrospectively before January 1990.

Results: Three hundred and two patients were referred over 3 years after January 1990, group A and 99 patients were referred over the 2 years before January 1990, group B and the male to female ratio were similar in both groups 1:1.

Shared psychotic disorder.

We describe a rare case of psychotic disorder, with unique family dynamics and management difficulties.