Biomedical subjects
C C Mambwe
Publications and source records attributed to C C Mambwe.
Diagnostic classification of first-ever admissions to Chainama Hills Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia.
All new female indigenous Zambian patients (180) admitted to Chainama Hills Hospital from 1 June 1974 to 31 May 1975 were seen by the authors and given a firm diagnosis before they were started on treatment. The diagnostic classification of these patients was compared to that of a similar group of patients (163) admitted to the same hospital from 1 June 1973 to 31 May 1974. Forty-two per cent of the patients in 1974/75 were given a diagnosis of depression as compared to 26 per cent in 1973/74; 14 per cent of those in 1974/75 had a diagnosis of schizophrenia as compared to 21 per cent in 1973/74, and 3 per cent of the patients in 1974/75 fell into the group of 'not yet diagnosed' as opposed by 27 per cent in 1973/74. The 'acute transient psychoses' were noted for their relative rarity in the two groups. A plea is made for all psychiatrists working in Africa to give diagnosis the importance it deserves.
Psychiatric status and the disorders of thyroid function. I. Prevalence of goitre in a group of psychiatric patients. I. The prevalence of goitre in a group of psychiatric patients.
All (478) indigenous Zambian patients who were in hospital on a particular day in January 1976 were examined by the authors for goitre. 34.4 per cent of all adult female patients and 23.2 per cent of all adult male patients had goitre. However, 57.6 per cent of all female patients with effective illness and 77.0 per cent of all male patients with paranoid psychosis were found to have goitre. The association between affective illness and paranoid psychosis on the one hand and goitre on the other was found to be statistically significnat at the 0.1 per cent level. It is suggested that further work should be done to find out what proportion of patients with depression or pananoia have sub-clinical or borderline hypothyroidism.