Contributions of general hospital psychiatric units to psychiatric research in India

BACKGROUND: General hospital psychiatric units (GHPUs) are one of the major service and training providers in the field of mental health in India. However, there has not been any systematic attempt at their contributions toward research. AIM: The present paper reports on contributions of the GHPUs toward the psychiatric research based on analysis of publications in the Indian Journal of Psychiatry (IJP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: All the issues of IJP of the last 25 years (1989-2013) were manually searched for original research papers, brief reports, and case reports. A semi-structured performa was used to collect information on various parameters. RESULTS: About two-thirds of the papers were contributed by the GHPUs, most being multi-authored and from tertiary care centers. The research covered a variety of psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia, mood disorders, and common mental disorders. Most of the research reported was self-funded. CONCLUSION: GHPUs have contributed significantly to psychiatric research in India in the last 25 years.