Biomedical subjects

A Merchant

Publications and source records attributed to A Merchant.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1990

An epidemiological study of histrionic personality disorder.

In conjunction with the Epidemiological Catchment Area (ECA) survey conducted in Baltimore, MD, a two-stage probability sample of community subjects was developed with a full psychiatric examination employing DSM-III criteria. This report details the observations on those subjects diagnosed with the DSM-III diagnosis Histrionic Personality Disorder. The results indicate that this condition can be diagnosed reliably and that it is a valid construct. It has a prevalence of 2.1% in a general population. Males and females are equally affected, suggesting that prior reports of an increased prevalence in females was an expression of ascertainment bias found in hospital-based studies. The diagnosis is associated with clear evidence of disturbance in the emotional, behavioural, and social realms. Individuals with this disorder tend to use health care facilities more frequently than others.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1990

Thymosin alpha 1 enhancement of human lymphocyte proliferation is not mediated by prostaglandin E2.

Prostaglandins of the E series have been implicated as possible mediators of thymosin alpha 1 (TA-1) effect on mitogen stimulated lymphoproliferation. In the present study human peripheral blood mononuclear cells were stimulated with concanavalin A in the presence of TA-1, prostaglandin E2 and indomethacin individually, or in combination. Both TA-1 and indomethacin significantly enhanced the proliferative response over that seen with mitogen alone (less than 0.001). The magnitude of enhancement observed with indomethacin (20 microM) was considerably less than that of TA-1 and it was abolished with prostaglandin E2. The combination of indomethacin and TA-1 did not alter TA-1 effect and prostaglandin E2 (up to 250 ng/ml) did not abolish thymosin effect. These results suggest that TA-1 and prostaglandin E2 have opposite effects and that thymosin enhancement of mitogen induced proliferation is not mediated by prostaglandin E2.

Concanavalin A↗

PubMed1988

Interobserver reliability of a "Standardized Psychiatric Examination" (SPE) for case ascertainment (DSM-III).

The authors describe the Standardized Psychiatric Examination (SPE), a new method for conducting psychiatric examinations in both clinical and research settings that preserves the clinical method. The SPE provides a consistent replicable format for eliciting and recording psychiatric history, signs, and symptoms without perturbing the patient-clinician interaction. By means of the SPE, the clinician can formulate diagnoses using DSM-III or ICD-9 criteria and yet generate CATEGO profiles derived from the Present State Examination, 9th edition. Psychiatrists using the SPE demonstrated high interrater reliability in ascertaining individual psychopathological symptoms (Kappa range, 0.55 to 1.0) and in making DSM-III diagnoses (Kappa range, 0.79 to 1.0) among a sample of study subjects (N = 43) drawn from both a psychiatric inpatient population and a large community sample of nonpatients from the Epidemiological Catchment Area (ECA) study. The implications of the SPE for clinical practice and for research are discussed.

Catchment Area, Health↗

PubMed1985

Comparison of the lay Diagnostic Interview Schedule and a standardized psychiatric diagnosis. Experience in eastern Baltimore.

We studied DSM-III diagnoses made by the lay Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) method in relation to a standardized DSM-III diagnosis by psychiatrists in the two-stage Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area mental morbidity survey. Generally, prevalence estimates based on the DIS one-month diagnoses were significantly different from those based on the psychiatric diagnoses. Subjects identified as cases by each method were often different subjects. Measured in terms of kappa, the chance-corrected degree of agreement between the DIS and psychiatrists' one-month diagnoses was moderate for DSM-III alcohol-use disorder (abuse and dependence combined), and lower for other mental disorder categories. The unreliability of either the DIS or psychiatric diagnoses is one potential explanation for the observed disagreements. Others include the following: insufficient or inadequate information (on which to base a diagnosis); recency of disorder; incomplete criterion coverage; overinclusive DIS questions; and degree of reliance on subject symptom reports. Further study of the nature and sources of these discrepancies is underway. This work should produce a more complete understanding of obstacles to mental disorder case ascertainment by lay interview and clinical examination methods in the context of a field survey.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1985

Brief report on the clinical reappraisal of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule carried out at the Johns Hopkins site of the Epidemiological Catchment Area Program of the NIMH.

A psychiatric examination was conducted on 810 community dwelling subjects previously given a diagnosis derived from the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS). The agreement in allocating subjects to a particular disorder was never high enough to encourage the confident replacement of a psychiatric diagnosis with a DIS diagnosis.

Alcoholism↗

PubMed1985

Prevalence of treated and untreated DSM-III schizophrenia. Results of a two-stage community survey.

Psychiatrists, using a standardized clinical method, examined a probability sample of 810 subjects in eastern Baltimore and made diagnoses of mental disorders among those subjects according to DSM-III criteria. The authors estimated that there were 4.6 active cases of schizophrenia per 1000 adult noninstitutionalized population, and 6.4 cases per 1000 population, including both active and remitted cases. Among the 17 active and remitted schizophrenics identified in the survey, one half were not receiving any form of mental health services at the time of the survey; these data yield a prevalence rate of untreated cases of 3.1 per 1000 population. All of the untreated schizophrenics were deemed by the examining psychiatrist to be in need of services.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1984

Criteria for diagnosing reversible dementia caused by depression: validation by 2-year follow-up.

Eighteen patients fulfilling DSM-III criteria for both major depression and dementia were matched by age and sex to patients with a diagnosis of irreversible dementia and patients with a diagnosis of major depression. A past history of depression, self reports of depressed mood, self blaming, hopeless and somatic delusions, an appetite disturbance and subacute onset identified the patients suffering from dementia caused by depression. Two year follow-up confirmed the initial diagnosis and demonstrated that coexisting cognitive impairment and major depression are not usually precursory to a progressive dementing illness.

Cognition↗