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The attitudes and beliefs of Pakistani medical practitioners about depression: a cross-sectional study in Lahore using the Revised Depression Attitude Questionnaire (R-DAQ)

Overview of attention for article published in BMC Psychiatry, October 2016
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  • In the top 25% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • Good Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (78th percentile)
  • Good Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (73rd percentile)

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1 policy source
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Title
The attitudes and beliefs of Pakistani medical practitioners about depression: a cross-sectional study in Lahore using the Revised Depression Attitude Questionnaire (R-DAQ)
Published in
BMC Psychiatry, October 2016
DOI 10.1186/s12888-016-1069-1
Pubmed ID
Authors

Mark Haddad, Ahmed Waqas, Wahhaj Qayyum, Maryam Shams, Saad Malik

Abstract

Mental disorders such as depression are common and rank as major contributors to the global burden of disease. Condition recognition and subsequent management of depression is variable and influenced by the attitudes and beliefs of clinicians as well as those of patients. Most studies examining health professionals' attitudes have been conducted in Western nations; this study explores beliefs and attitudes about depression among doctors working in Lahore, Pakistan. A cross-sectional survey conducted in 2015 used a questionnaire concerning demographics, education in psychiatry, beliefs about depression causes, and attitudes about depression using the Revised Depression Attitude Questionnaire (R-DAQ). A convenience sample of 700 non-psychiatrist medical practitioners based in six hospitals in Lahore was approached to participate in the survey. Six hundred and one (86 %) of the doctors approached consented to participate; almost all respondents (99 %) endorsed one of various biopsychosocial causes of depression (38 to 79 % for particular causes), and 37 % (between 13 and 19 % for particular causes) noted that supernatural forces could be responsible. Supernatural causes were more commonly held by female doctors, those working in rural settings, and those with greater psychiatry specialist education. Attitudes to depression were mostly less confident or optimistic and less inclined to a generalist perspective than those of clinicians in the UK or European nations, and deterministic perspectives that depression is a natural part of aging or due to personal failings were particularly common. However, there was substantial confidence in the efficacy of antidepressants and psychological therapy. More confident and therapeutically optimistic views and a more generalist perspective about depression management were associated with a rejection of supernatural explanations of the origin of depression. Non-psychiatrist medical practitioners in Pakistan hold a range of views about the causes of depression, with supernatural explanations held by more than a third. Depression attitudes appear less positive than among UK and European clinicians, with the notions that depression is due to a lack of stamina and will-power and a natural part of growing old being especially commonly held; more positive attitudes appear to be associated with a rejection of supernatural explanatory models of depression.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 82 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 82 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 14 17%
Student > Postgraduate 12 15%
Student > Bachelor 8 10%
Researcher 6 7%
Student > Ph. D. Student 6 7%
Other 10 12%
Unknown 26 32%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 16 20%
Psychology 14 17%
Nursing and Health Professions 10 12%
Social Sciences 3 4%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 2 2%
Other 6 7%
Unknown 31 38%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 8. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 05 April 2022.
All research outputs
#4,309,485
of 23,881,329 outputs
Outputs from BMC Psychiatry
#1,703
of 4,939 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#69,452
of 319,037 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BMC Psychiatry
#26
of 96 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,881,329 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 81st percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 4,939 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 12.9. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 65% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 319,037 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 78% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 96 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 73% of its contemporaries.