Objectives: This study aims to determine the frequency of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Anxiety and Depression among military personnel as well as describe their coping style. Methodology: This was a cross sectional descriptive study of military personnel. (Member of the Armed Forces of the Philippines), in active service i.e. must have been deployed to a combat zone at some point in time, drawn by convenience sampling. They were screened using the Filipino version of the Zung Depression Scale and the Hamilton Anxiety Scale after securing voluntary consent of the subjects. Results: There were 673 servicemen who participated in the study with many undergoing advancement schooling at the time of interview. Responses of only 598 subjects were included in the analysis since the others failed to complete the standardized demographic profile data sheet. Seven (1.1 %) were noted to be anxious; and 5 (0.8%) were depressed while no one were noted to have PTSD. The most common coping mechanisms in handling stress were smoking cigarettes, talking to a friend or drinking alcoholic beverages. Conclusion The prevalence of anxiety, depression and absence of PTSD were lower than expected but this may be due to the fact that at the time of interview the servicemen were not coming directly from a combat zone but had been taking up further studies over the past 1- 3 months in Metro Manila
Anxiety ; Depression ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic ; Military Personnel

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Aphasia is one of the most frequent devastating cognitive deficits encountered by post-stroke patients. Aphasia and its correlates are associated with poorer prognosis and thus early detection is vital for comprehensive rehabilitation. A simple bedside screening tool can be utilized for this purpose for preliminary detection and classification of aphasia. The aims of this study were to (1) determine the frequency of aphasia among Filipinos with acute stroke using a simplified Tagalog version of the bedside language screening test; (2) determine the most common aphasia syndrome in acute stroke using the same screening tool; and (3) establish possible predictors of aphasia.

METHODS

This is a cross-sectional analytic study where a total of 292 patients were screened for aphasia from March 2003 to July 2004. Chi-Square, Fisher's T, & Multiple logistic regression tests were used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS

Aphasia was detected in (57.5%) 1 68 patients. Unclassified and global aphasia were the most common syndromes noted in acute stroke, whereas the other types of aphasia were less frequent.

CONCLUSION

This paper showed that the simplified Tagalog version of the bedside language screening can detect the presence of aphasia and can make a preliminary classification of the different aphasia syndromes. At the acute stage of stroke the most frequently encountered aphasia syndromes were of the severe or non-classic type. The determinants for the occurrence of aphasia in this study were handedness, previous stroke, laterality of the lesion, and type of stroke.

Human ; Aphasia ; Stroke