Psychiatry Research EG

Only Forty two available Egyptian studies discussed the topic of management of psychiatric disorders, but this subject needs more studies to be done and more data to be collected and analyzed. The researches cover the period from 1976-2011(35 years). Through this period forty two available studies were done. Most of the studies are present after 1990. The number of researches is considered not sufficient to cover this important subject “management of psychiatric disorder” Eighteen researches studied pharmacotherapy followed by fifteen researches on psychotherapy then seven researches on electro-convulsive therapy and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and two researches on hospitalization and lastly one research on traditional healer. The number of researches is sufficient as regards antidepressant medication but, the researches done on different pharmacotherapy are not sufficient. We found that the available Egyptian researches done on psychotherapy cover a lot of topics but they were not sufficient. The researches which were done focus on group therapy, family psycho-education, behaviour therapy, cognitive behaviour therapy, social skill training, phototherapy, art therapy and psychotherapy to cancer patients The researches discussed ECT focused mainly on the changes that occur after ECT sessions, we found that number of researches is sufficient in ECT, but as regards to r.TMS it was not sufficient. We found that number of researches is not sufficient in the subject of hospitalization and the only two available researches focused only on the factors affecting duration of stay in psychiatric hospital. As regards traditional healer there was only one available research which discussed the patients’ reasons for attending nonpsychiatric practitioner and found that traditional and nonpsychiatric care provider offer culturally accepted explanation moreover than biomedical psychiatric care providers who rely on medication and/ or ingection. We can conclude that some of pharmacotherapy, psychotherapy, hospitalization are missing, they need extensive researches for better outcome in management of psychiatric patients As regards the critical appraisal of the studies, we found that most of the researches neither mention the design of the study nor describe the design of the sample. Only small number of researches statistically calculated the sample size to choose the appropriate number of cases. The study population is not well described in many researches. Also, many researches neither mention the time of the study nor the setting of the study. In almost all the studies no informed consent is taken. The researches are not preceded by a pilot study to justify the study proper. Limitations of the study are missed in some researches. Otherwise, the title of most of the studies is clear and to the point, the aim of the study is clearly stated, the methods of assessment are mentioned and referenced and they are valid and reliable. The statistical methods used are mentioned and discussed in some studies. Most of the results are presented in a clear way (tables and figures), then the results are compared with other researches either supporting the same finding or establishing other findings with explanation of the different findings. The recommendations are mentioned in many studies and the general appearance of the studies is not bad.