Objective To investigate the use of the mental health service by college students and the main factors which influence this. Methods A stratified sampling study was conducted among 2 800 students from 5 of the top 100 colleges (as ranked by Internet). All five were located in Southwest China. The students were surveyed by the Questionnaires of Mental Health Service for College Students. Results We retrieved 2 760 (98.58%) questionnaires. Of these, 11.2% of the students (310/2 760) used the mental health service before entering college. 13.6% (376/ 2 760) used mental health service after entering college, of these, 78.5%(295/376) broke off. The mental health service was needed by 32.7% (902/ 2 760), but they did not seek it. When college students considered the mental health service, 65.8%(1 815/2 760), were concerned about the ability of the service organizations to provide professional help, 48.4% (1 336/2 760) were concerned about the service cost, 47.9% ( 1 312/2760) were concerned about the convenience of the service and 38.0% (1 049/2 760) were concerned about social cultural factors. Conclusion Currently, few college students use the mental health service. The main factors influencing the use of the mental health service by college students are the professional ability of the service organizations, the nature and severity of the student’s psychological problems, and the convenience and cost of the mental health service.
Objective To evaluate the clinical effectiveness and safety of escitalopram in the treatment of major depression. Methods A randomized double-blind active-drug controlled trial was used to observe 56 patients with major depression. They were randomly divided into the treatment group (escitalopram, 28 patients) and the control group (citalopram, 28 patients). We used HAMD,CGI-I, and HAMA to evaluate clinical effectiveness and symptom-recording to evaluate safety. All outcomes were measured before treatment and at 14 days, 28 days and 42 days after treatment. Results According to an intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis in the Full Analysis Set with last observation carried forward (LOCF), the HAMD score decreased from baseline by 15.1±7.8 in the treatment group, and 12.1±7.7 in the control group. There was no significant difference between the two groups(t=1.42,P=0.1613). The rate of effectiveness, based on the percentage decrease of HAMD is 78.6% in the treatment group, and 67.9% in the control group(χ2 = 0.8195,P=0.3653). The HAMA score decreased from 15.1±3.7 to 3.3±4.5 in the treatment group, and from 14.0±4.1 to 5.0±3.7 in the control group(t=1.5756, P=0.1223). From the point of CGI, there was no significant difference between these two groups at any follow-up. At the end of the trial, the proportion of patients assessed to have a great improvement or more was 90.0% in the treatment group, and 87.8% in the control group (CMH=1.5013,P=0.2205). Side effects were recorded for 32.5% of the treatment group and 30.8% of the control group(χ2 =0.0770, P=0.7814). The most frequent side effects were nausea(11.7%), dry mouth(9.2%), dizziness(5.8%), insomnia(3.3%), hypodynamia(2.5%), transaminase elevation(1.7%), palpitation(1.7%), and constipation(1.7%). Conclusion The therapeutic action of escitalopram for the treatment of major depression is confirmed with less side effects than the well-proven antidepressant- citalopram.
Objective To evaluate the mental status of survivors after Wenchuan earthquake, so as to provide relevant information for psychological and medical intervention. Methods Demographic data was recorded and the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C) was evaluated. The acute stress disorder (ASD) were assessed with the DSM-IV criteria in the survivors from the central earthquake area who are now living in two shelters in Chengdu. Results Among the 780 retrieved questionnaires, 729 baseline registration forms and 450 PCL-C were valid. In the 729 baseline registration forms, male to female ratio was 1:1.31 and the mean age was 36.73±20.82. 9.5% of subjects suffered from physical diseases, 9.7% needed assistance in daily activities, 70.7% were passive and didn’t participate in community activities, 9.1% suffered from severe psychological problems. In the present study, 30.9% of subjects were found to meet the DSM-IV criteria for ASD. 41.3%, 22.2% and 18.4% of subjects had a PCL-C score ≥ 38, ≥ 45 and ≥50, respectively. Consistency check showed there was no significant difference between the screening result of PCL-C score ≥45 and clinical diagnosis (Kappa=0.780, P=0.033). There was significant difference in the age of subjects between ASD and non-ASD groups (Plt;0.05). Conclusion The earthquake survivors suffered from psychological problems after the disaster in the early stage. Thus, in addition to life rescue, we should pay more attention to psychological intervention.