THE RELATION OF HUMOR TO DEPRESSION AND PERSONALITY

Background:Depression is a common illness in the world.Humor plays an important role in mental health filed as a coping mechanism. Different personality variables seem to be factors associated with depression. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to study the relationship among different personalities and coping humor which may lead to identified associated depression Methodology:An online website of the questionnaires was created for data collection using three scales combined: Coping humor scale (CHS), Zung depression scale, Eysencks Personality Inventory (EPI) which was conducted on a convenience sample population of at least 200 college students participants from King Faisal University. After conducting the research, the data was collected, analyzed and processed in tables using the appropriate statistical measurements, in return the results were given and concluded. Results: We collected data from 502 participants with mean age 23.6 ± 3.5 years old and 74.3 % of participants were females. The mean scores of CHS, depression scales, extraversion/introversion and Neuroticism/emotional stability were 20.27 (out of 28), 44.42 (out of 80), 18.27 (out of 24), and 10.99 (out of 24).There is a significant negative correlation between coping humor scale and depression scale (P=0.00). Conclusion:There is a significant negative correlation between depression and coping of humor among students in Al Alahsa, Saudi Arabia. Moreover, extraverted participants and emotional stable participants were associated with higher usage of humor to cope and less level of depression.

Network Structures of Symptoms From the Zung Depression Scale

The Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) is a psychometric tool composed of 20 items used to assess depression symptoms. The aim of this work is to perform a network analysis of this scale in a large sample composed of 1090 French-speaking Belgian university students. We estimated a regularized partial correlation network and a Directed Acyclic Graph for the 20 items of the questionnaire. Node predictability (shared variance with surrounding nodes in the network) was used to assess the connectivity of items. The network comparison test was performed to compare networks from female and male students. The network composed of items from the SDS is overall positively connected, although node connectivity varies. Item 11 (“My mind is as clear as it used to be”) is the most interconnected item. Networks from female and male students did not differ. DAG reported directed edges among items. Network analysis is a useful tool to explore depression symptoms and offers new insight as to how they interact. Further studies may endeavor to replicate our findings in different samples, including clinical samples to replicate the network structures and determine possible viable targets for clinical intervention.

Network structures of symptoms from the Zung Depression Scale

The Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) is a psychometric tool composed of 20 items used to assess depression symptoms. The aim of this work is to perform a network analysis of this scale in a large sample composed of 1090 French-speaking Belgian university students. We estimated a regularized partial correlation network and a Directed Acyclic Graph for the 20 items of the questionnaire. Node predictability (shared variance with surrounding nodes in the network) was used to assess the connectivity of items. The network comparison test was performed to compare networks from female and male students. The network composed of items from the SDS is overall positively connected, although node connectivity varies. Item 11 (“My mind is as clear as it used to be”) is the most interconnected item. Networks from female and male students did not differ. DAG reported directed edges among items. Network analysis is a useful tool to explore depression symptoms and offers new insight as to how they interact. Further studies may endeavor to replicate our findings in different samples, including clinical samples to replicate the network structures and determine possible viable targets for clinical intervention.

Depression among Nurses in Pabna Mental Hospital, Pabna

Introduction: Every day, nurses experience a great deal of stress. They face problems at work, people relying on them for their care, and also tons of responsibilities piling up at home. Psychological stress is common in hospital ward and associated with depression. Only few studies are done concerning mental health of Nurses in Bangladesh. The study was carried out with a view to find out the prevalence of depression among nurses at Mental Hospital, Pabna, Bangladesh. Materials & Methods: A cross sectional, questionnaire-based survey was carried out among the 125 nurses of Mental Hospital, Pabna. The studywas conducted between January to February 2019. The depression levels were assessed using Zung depression scale. Nurses were asked to complete the questionnaire and then the depression levels calculated. Result: The overall prevalence of depression among the nurses was 4.13 percent. The prevalence of depression was 4.5 percent among female nurses versus 2.94 percent in male nurses. Conclusion: The prevalence of depression is seen especially innurses. So, attempts should be made to alleviate the stressors. Medicine Today 2019 Vol.31(2): 111-113

Cut-off Value for Stenosis Ratio and Zung Depression Scale in Successful Prediction of Posterior Spinal Fusion surgery

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate effect of some clinical attributes in prediction of satisfaction with posterior spinal fusion (PSF) surgery in patients with lumbar disc herniation (LDH) and lumbar spinal canal stenosis (LSCS) and determine a cut-off point for these attributes. Methods: The attributes such as stenosis ratio (SR) values (described by Lurencin), Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA), The Zung depression scale (ZDS), duration of symptoms (in months), were investigated for 329 patients with LSCS and 151 patients with LDH separately. Patient satisfaction was recorded based on the international standard questionnaire Swiss Spinal Stenosis Score (SSS). The sensitivity and specificity values and the optimal cut-off points were calculated for SR, JOA, ZDS and duration of symptoms using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Results: One hundred fifty-one patients with LDH (39 male, 112 female; mean age 50.24 ± 9.21 years) and 329 patients with LSCS (111 male, 218 female; mean age 53.28 ±7.81 years) were followed–up for 6 months. Post-surgical satisfaction was 73.86% in patients with LSCS and 85.43% in patients with LDH. The cut-off point of SR for prediction of besting surgical outcome was estimated more than 0.46 with asymptotic significance less than 0.05, 60% sensitivity and 75% specificity in LSCS patients (AUC-0.705, 95% CI, 0.644–0.766; P < 0.001). Conclusion: The findings show that the SR with a cut off value of 0.46 cross sectional area, in patients with LSCS may be superior to JOA, duration of symptoms and ZDS for prediction of satisfaction with PSF surgery.

A félelem és elkerülési hiedelmek krónikus fájdalomban. A FABQ kérdőív magyar változatának fordítása és validálása

Introduction: Chronic low back pain is one of the top reasons for seeking medical advice. In the background of the dysfunction besides the somatic pain dysfunctional thinking, negative emotional states, or interpersonal problems can be identified as well. One of the most important factors making the rehabilitation difficult is the fear and avoidance of physical activity. Aim: The aim of the study was to adapt and validate the Fear Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ-H) in Hungarian. Methods: The FABQ (16 items) was translated into Hungarian and filled in by 90 patients suffering from low back pain for at least three months. For cross validation the FABQ-H results of 43 patients were compared with pain intensity the Oswestry Low Back Pain Questionnaire (ODI), the Roland–Morris Disability Questionnaire (RDQ), the Zung Depression Scale (Zung) and the Pain Catastrophising Scale (PCS). Results: The internal consistency of the FABQ-H was good: the Cronbach’s alpha was 0.8. Correlation analysis revealed that the FABQ showed significant correlation only with the Pain Catastrophising Scale (r = 0.373, p = 0.014). Conclusion: Our results confirm that the FABQ-H is a valid questionnaire that can be well implemented. Orv Hetil. 2017; 158(24): 949–955.

Prevalence and Correlates of Perceived Stress in Young Medical Undergraduates

IntroductionEmotional distress–specifically symptoms of anxiety and/or depression–in undergraduate medical student represent a major health issue for university life and for the entire society, as the onset of negative affectivity in young age is lowering quality of life of the affected individual and implicitly, the professional evolution.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence of perceived stress in medical undergraduates and relationship between perceived stress and emotional distress.MethodsThe study comprised a randomised population of 356 students from 1st and 2nd year in Faculty of Medicine who signed the informed consent for the research. Mean age in the group was 20.04 ± 0.9 years old. Instruments used in the study were self-rated Zung Anxiety Scale and Zung Depression Scale and Perceived Stress Scale. Data were analysed with SPSS 16. Statistical significance was at P < 0.05.ResultsPerceived stress of medium and high intensity was found in 62.5% of the students in the study. There is a significant effect of perceived stress on presence of emotional distress (F(3,352) = 36,431, P < 0.001). In the emotional distressed group, perceived stress in the period before the exams session is predicting emotional distress in the period of exams (academic stress) with OR = 1.145, P = 0.04, IC 95% = 1.006–1.303.ConclusionsThere is a high prevalence of perceived stress and perceived stress in the period before session of exams is a predictive factor for having emotional distress in session of exams. Therefore, we are signaling the necessity of implementation of stress management programs in medical undergraduates from the pre-clinical years.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Depressive symptomatology and language perception in young women

IntroductionDepression may have numerous effects on cognition. A little investigated topic is the perception of the grammatical gender.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to examine whether there is a different understanding of grammatical gender in Greek-speaking young women with and without depressive symptomatology regarding names of cars that are female or neutral according to the modern Greek language.MethodTwo-hundred fourteen women from Greece (Mean age = 19.59, SD age = 3.60, 18 min–50 max) were examined with the ZUNG Self Rating Depression Scale and a language test that comprised of 38 names of car brands, which were characterized in linguistics either as female or neutral. Half of women scored high in the ZUNG Depression scale.ResultsResults indicated that overall there are no statistically significant differences between women with or without depression in their gender perception of the words (P > .005). In addition to that, there are no statistically significant differences between the names of car brands that are related to large size cars and/or expensive car models.ConclusionsThis research suggests that although there is a tendency to consider the existence of depressive symptomatology as detrimental on cognition, this does not seem to hold true for the perception of the gender of the words as examined by linguistics.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

The effects of smoking on quality of life recovery after surgery for chronic rhinosinusitis

Background: The effects of smoking on quality of life (QoL) results in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) patients still remain a matter of debate. Objective: To explore the impact of smoking on QoL and determine how quantity of daily smoking and duration affect QoL results after endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS). Methodology: Patients with CRS were prospectively asked to evaluate their QoL pre- and after ESS. All subjects' QoL was evaluated by means of validated questionnaires either specific (Questionnaire of Olfactory Deficits), for assessing psychology (Zung Anxiety Scale, State -Trait Anxiety Inventory, Zung Depression Scale and Beck Depression Inventory) or generic (Short-Form-36). Smoking habits were expressed in pack-years. Results: No statistically significant differences were found in the pre-treatment scores in any of the questionnaires between smokers and non smokers. Post-operatively, all QoL questionnaires' results were significantly improved among both groups, although non smokers exhibited significantly greater improvement compared to smokers. There was a negative impact of the number of pack-years on the changes of QoL results; less improvement was observed as the number of pack-years was increasing. Conclusion: Although smoking did not improve preoperative QoL results and proved not to be a contra-indication factor for ESS regarding QoL, smokers presented worse treatment outcomes. Quantity and duration of smoking were significantly associated with worse postoperative results in all QoL questionnaires.