Sabih Ahmad, Sadiq Hussain.
Community screening for psychiatric morbidity in four remote valleys of hindu kush and karakoram regions of pakistan.
J Coll Physicians Surg Pak Jan ;28(10):772-5.

Objective: To find out the frequency of psychiatric morbidity in patients reporting to general medical camps in the Hindu Kush and Karakoram ranges of Pakistan. Study Design: A cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Four different valleys of the region, with the Psychiatry Department, Combined Military Hospital, Gilgit as the base, from August 2015 to December 2016. Methodology: Consenting adults of either gender, reporting to medical camps for various health related issues were administered Bradford Somatic Inventory 21 (BSI 21) and Self Report Questionnaire (SRQ). Non-parametric statistical techniques including Mann-Whitney test, Kruskall-Wallis test, and Spearman correlation, along with median and inter quartile range, were used to analyse data. Results: Out of a total of 478 (52.1% females) respondents, half [n=234 (48.9%) on BSI and n=243 (50.8%) on SRQ] reported positive psychiatric morbidity. Inter-valley differences were significant (BSI, ? 2=49.1, p <.001; SRQ, ? 2=66.5, p <.001). Females reported higher levels of psychiatric morbidity measured by BSI (p <.001) and SRQ (p <.001), as compared to males. Participants' occupation was significantly associated (BSI; ? 2=23.1, SRQ; ? 2=35.3, p <.001) while their age was not significantly associated (BSI, r=-.06, p >.05; SRQ, r=-.09, p >.05) with their psychiatric morbidity. Conclusion: Psychiatric morbidity was prevalent in the population studied, which may go unrecognized, overlooked, or mistreated by the locally available medical resources. There is a huge need for mental health services in these areas.

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