Tehran University Medical Journal

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Background: Identify the causes of complaints and contributing factors may reduce medical litigation. The aim of this study was to assess the cases of complaints in the field of psychiatric. Methods: This study was done in retrospective cross-sectional study method. We inves-tigated 27 cases of medical malpractice in the field of psychiatry that registered in higher disciplinary board of the Medical Council of Iran, from 2001 to 2010. We calcu-lated the absolute and relative frequency of variables after collecting all data and calculated the difference between malpractice and exculpation cases based on physicians profile by Pearson's chi-squared test and Fisher’s exact test. P< 0.05 was considered as statistically significant difference. Results: The 24 people who died and their families protested against psychiatrist were enrolled in this study. Demographic information and other characteristics of the cases were collected. All participants had been men. Seventeen of 24 cases (70.84%) were in 30-50 year old group and seven of 24 cases (29.16%) were in > 50 year old group. The most common types of negligence were related to disregarding of governmental provi-sions (40%). The age, expertise and place of medical activities were variables that dif-ferent significantly between negligence and non-negligence groups (P< 0.05). The re-sults of the study showed eight cases of 24 cases (33%) in the lower board, nine cases of 24 cases (37.5%) in the appeals board and eight cases of 24 cases (33%) in the higher disciplinary board were acquitted. Conclusion: Based on the study findings, it appears that age, expertise and activity place are factors that can be effective in reducing malpractice in psychiatry.

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Background: The relationship between skin, neuron system and mental status is complicated. Pemphigus is severe and painful autoimmune skin disorder that occurs in 0.5-1 person in 100000. Regarding the critical role of mental status in autoimmune diseases such as pemphigus, the aim of this research was to investigating psychiatric comorbidity in patient with pemphigus.

Methods: This research was a descriptive survey study. The society of this research included the patients with pemphigus referred to Razi Dermatology University Hospital in Tehran. Participants were 200 persons who were selected through available sampling. Finally, 198 persons filled out the demographic questionnaire and symptom checklist-90 (SCL-90).

Results: This research showed that the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in this sample was 62.62%. 28.78% (57 persons) of patients were male and 33.84% (67 persons) were female. In both genders the symptoms of paranoia were the most prevalent disorders (45% in female and 60% in male) and phobia was the least prevalent in our sample (8.2% in female and 24% in male). The upper grade in education, the less prevalent disorders. 81.45% of participants with mental disorders were married and 18.55% of them were single. Of patients only 26.32% had visited the psychiatrist or psychologist and 95.15% of them had used medications. This research also showed that there was a significant difference between two genders. Men showed higher rate of prevalence in psychiatric symptoms than women.

Conclusion: The results showed that psychiatric disorders in patients with pemphigus are high compared to general population. This research congruent with other researches showed that higher age, lower grade of education and marriage related to worse prognosis in psychological status in patient with pemphigus. Thus dermatologists must recognize and manage these psychiatric comorbidities to treat patients effectively and to improve the quality of life in patients with autoimmune diseases such as pemphigus.