Correlates of psychiatric morbidity in typhoid fever in a Nigerian general hospital setting

Abstract

This study explored factors associated with psychiatric morbidity in typhoid fever in a Nigerian general hospital. Information such as sociodemographic characteristics, symptom manifestations, results of investigations, neuropsychiatric symptoms, outcome and disposal were obtained from the case files of patients admitted for typhoid fever over a period of six years. The patients with psychiatric morbidity conspicuous enough to be documented by the attending physicians-mostly internists-were compared with those with no documented psychiatric morbidity on sociodemographic and clinical indices. Of the 136 cases, 26 (19.1%) had psychiatric morbidity. This included delirium (73.1%), generalized anxiety disorder (3.8%), depressive episode (3.8%), schizophrenia like disorder (3.8%) and monosymptomatic neuropychiatric manifestations such as apathy, hallucinations and irrelevant talking (15.5%). The clinical and sociodemographic indices that were significantly associated with psychiatric morbidity were diarrhea, blood biochemical imbalance and age (P<.05). Adolescents and young adults were more predisposed to developing psychiatric complications. Some factors potentially associated with psychiatric morbidity in typhoid fever have been identified. There is the need to prospectively assess the burden from psychiatric morbidity and identify interventions that may reduce it.