Relapse of psychotic symptoms in Schizophrenia occurs in up to 40% of patients within a year of being hospitalised. A relapse may be secondary to any individual factor or several factors acting concomitantly. Risk factors that can precipitate a relapse in Schizophrenia are: significant residual psychopathology, poor compliance to medication, poor insight, substance misuse, interactions with other medication, poor social support, increased stress and caregivers with high expressed emotions. A thorough history and assessment should be conducted to elicit all contributory factors and appropriate interventions undertaken to address them in order to prevent the onset of a full blown relapse or to help the individual to achieve remission of symptoms. It is necessary to implement a proactive approach towards the prevention of relapses by using strategies such as psychoeducation and early identification of relapse signatures. More importantly, it should be emphasised that empowerment of the individuals in understanding and managing their illness is crucial.

BACKGROUND: Life-threatening emergencies can occur at anytime, at anywhere and in anyone. Effective management of an emergency situation in the dental office is ultimately the dentist's responsibility. The lack of training and inability to cope with medical emergencies can lead to tragic consequences and sometimes legal complications. Therefore, health professionals including dentists must be well prepared to deal with medical emergencies. This study was undertaken to assess the knowledge about and attitude towards basic life support (BLS) among dental interns and postgraduate students in Bangalore city, India. METHODS: A cross sectional survey was conducted among dental interns and postgraduate students from May 2014 to June 2014 since few studies have been conducted in Bangalore city. A questionnaire with 17 questions regarding the knowledge about and attitude towards BLS was distributed to 202 study participants. RESULTS: The data analyzed using the Chi-square test showed that dental interns and postgraduate students had average knowledge about BLS. In the 201 participants, 121 (59.9％) had a positive attitude and 81 (40.1％) had a negative attitude towards BLS. CONCLUSIONS: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation should be considered as part of the dental curriculum. Workshops on a regular basis should be focused on skills of cardiopulmonary resuscitation for dental students.

Achievement ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Mental Disorders ; Mental Health Services ; Risk ; Singapore