Suicide prevention competencies among urban Indian physicians: A needs assessment

A critical appraisal on the involvement of plant-based extracts as neuroprotective agents (2012-2022): an effort to ease out decision-making process for researchers

The purpose of this review study is to provide a condensed compilation of 164 medicinal plants that have been investigated for their neuroprotective aspects by researchers between the years 2012 and 2022 which also includes a recent update of 2023-2024. After using certain keywords to retrieve the data from SCOPUS, it was manually sorted to eliminate any instances of duplication. The article is streamlined into three major segments. The first segment takes a dig into the current global trend and attempts to decrypt vital information related to plant names, families, plant parts used, and neurological disorders investigated. The second segment of the article makes an attempt to present a comprehensive insight into the various mechanistic pathways through which phytochemicals can intervene to exert neuroprotection. The final segment of the manuscript is a bibliometric appraisal of all researches conducted. The study is based on 256 handpicked articles based on decided inclusion criteria. Illustrative compilation of various pathways citing their activation and deactivation channels are also presented with possible hitting points of various phytochemicals. The present study employed Microsoft Excel 2019 and VOS viewer as data visualisation tools.

Qualitative research methods in psychiatry in India: Landscaping the terrain

BACKGROUND

Qualitative research methods (QRMs) bear a critical role in psychiatry as they explore the phenomenology of psychiatric illness and its sociocultural dimensions. However, there is limited evidence regarding its use in psychiatric research in India.

AIM

This study, under the aegis of mapping qualitative health research in India initiative, attempted to landscape the use of QRMs in psychiatry and elicited expert opinion on its potential, perceived quality, and scope for improvement.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We reviewed studies using qualitative methodology published in the Indian Journal of Psychiatry (IJP) and the abstracts presented at the Annual Conference of the Indian Psychiatric Society (ANCIPS) between 2010 and 2019. Titles and abstracts were screened and shortlisted; full-text articles were checked to identify the relevant ones. In addition, ten experts comprising psychiatry journal reviewers, editors, and conference scientific committee members were interviewed to elicit their views and suggestions.

RESULTS

Out of 356 papers published in IJP between 2010 and 2019, only 12 papers used QRMs: five qualitative and seven mixed methods. Out of 2297 abstracts published between 2010 and 2019 in ANCIPS, only 28 had used QRMs, consisting of 20 qualitative and eight mixed methods. The findings reveal that qualitative research is still an understudied domain in Indian psychiatry with a substantial need for rigor and quality.

CONCLUSIONS

To catalyze the use of qualitative research in Indian psychiatry, continuing medical education programs through workshops or webinar mode need to be imparted. These trainings should aim at building skills on qualitative study design, data collection, analysis, and writing.

Suicide research in India: An overview of four decades

BACKGROUND

Suicide is a global phenomenon and a major public health concern and 'it is possibly preventable if it is well understood'.

AIM

The article is an attempt to understand 'suicide in India' with the existing literature and the lacuna for the four decades.

METHODS

The information is collected from 270 articles on suicide research in India, published in various electronic data bases and different official sites as surprisingly the nation is with highest suicide mortality rate among all regional countries.

RESULTS

The review shows an increase in the number of articles on suicide in India over the period of time. Though the suicide mortality rate in India is significantly high, the number of intervention studies remains very minimal. India's understanding about 'the concept' remains questionable as the data from different sources for the same time period shows a huge disparity. Sex, age, socio-economic status, substance abuse, mental illness, medical illness, psychological and environmental stressors etc make individuals vulnerable to end their lives.

CONCLUSION

Appropriate official documentation and more qualitative studies would help in understanding the phenomena better. Intervention studies and policy level changes are the need of the hour to save the nation from the dangerous 'iceberg of suicide'.

Exploring Health Care Professionals' Knowledge of, Attitudes Towards, and Confidence in Caring for People at Risk of Suicide: a Systematic Review

Health care professionals are paramount to the prevention and management of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Confidence in caring for people at risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors is influenced by knowledge of and attitudes towards suicide. This systematic review aimed to explore health care professionals' knowledge of and attitudes towards suicide, as well as, their confidence in caring for people at risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. A systematic search of 4 electronic databases over 10 years was conducted. Following retrieval of 1,723 abstracts, 46 primary research publications were included, involving both cross-sectional (n = 27) and intervention study designs (n = 19). Knowledge of, attitudes towards, and confidence in caring for people at risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors were explored among primary health care professionals, specialists, and health care students. The influence of training and education, type of health care professional, country of practice, and prior experience with suicide were highlighted among included studies. Health care professionals' knowledge of, attitudes towards and confidence in caring for people at risk of suicide are complex, interrelated constructs that shape their behaviors and may impact patient outcomes. Suicide training and education is necessary within health care curricula and as part of health care professionals' continuing professional development.

Barriers for the Research, Prevention, and Treatment of Suicidal Behavior

Efforts in research, prevention, and treatment of suicidal behavior have produced mixed results. One of the main barriers to combating suicidal behavior lies in the very conceptualization of suicide, a phenomenon that is at once sociological, psychiatric, and even philosophical, and one that has not always been included in the field of health care. There are also many barriers at the social level, ranging from stigma against people with suicidal behavior to stigma towards psychiatric care, as well as the controversial role of the media. The media plays an important role in society and depending on its attitude it can be either beneficial or harmful in our fight against suicidal behavior. Differences between countries - in the provision of resources, in the way of understanding the phenomenon or in the manner of providing official figures - pose an additional challenge to suicide prevention on a global level. In the field of research, predicting suicidal behavior by identifying effective risk markers is severely hampered by the low occurrence of suicide in the population, which limits the statistical power of studies. The authors recommend combining various risk factors to build predictive models. This, in addition to employing increasingly precise machine learning techniques, is a step in the right direction, although there is still a long way to go before the expected results can be obtained. Finally, adequate training of health professionals, both specialized and non-specialized, as well as gatekeeper training, is crucial for implementing suicide prevention strategies in the population.

Indo-Canadian Collaboration for Suicide Prevention: Training Needs Assessment for Healthcare Professionals in India

The main purpose of the study was to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment of primary healthcare professionals in order to develop a training program aimed at enhancing competencies in suicide risk assessment and management. A total of 144 primary healthcare professionals (physicians = 46; primary care workers = 98) completed the needs assessment questionnaire. The majority of healthcare professionals rated their level of comfort and competence in assessing, treating, and referring suicidal patients as medium or high. However, their knowledge about suicide, risk factors for suicide, asking about suicidal behaviour, and helping a suicidal patient was rated low or medium. Overall, the scarcity of qualified healthcare professionals and the existing gaps in core competencies for suicide risk assessment and management was identified. Development of innovative and effective competencies-based suicide specific training for primary care providers in India is urgently required.