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Biomedical subjects

B A Hong

Publications and source records attributed to B A Hong.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Liver transplantation in a patient with undiagnosed bipolar disorder.

We present the case of a 55-year-old woman with no previous diagnosis of bipolar disorder, who underwent orthotopic liver transplantation for hepatitis C and alcohol-related liver disease. Two weeks posttransplant, she exhibited manic symptoms including hyperactivity, racing thoughts, and pressured speech. Although drug and alcohol abuse had been in remission for a 10-year period, a long history consistent with bipolar disorder was only identified after surgery. This article discusses the role of psychiatric evaluation prior to undergoing liver transplantation, and provides the transplant team with suggestions for comprehensively assessing psychiatric disorders in addition to alcohol and drug use.

Bipolar Disorder↗

The American Red Cross disaster mental health services: development of a cooperative, single function, multidisciplinary service model.

Not until 1989 did the Red Cross officially recognize a need for a systematic and organized plan for the mental health needs of disaster survivors. Over the next decade, the Red Cross Disaster Mental Health Services program has developed and evolved to assist both disaster victims and the Red Cross workers who serve them to cope with the overwhelming stresses encountered by both groups in the aftermath of disasters. The Red Cross now coordinates a large and diverse group of mental health professionals from fields of psychology, psychiatry, nursing, social work, marriage and family therapy, and counseling who work together cooperatively. Cross-disciplinary conflicts are minimized by the Red Cross' generic approach to the various mental health professional specialties as functionally interchangeable in performing Red Cross duties. This article reviews the development of this process and describes one local Red Cross chapter's early experience as part of this effort.

Crisis Intervention↗

Return rates and partner notification in HIV-positive men seeking anonymous versus confidential antibody testing.

This study investigated whether HIV-positive men who seek confidential versus anonymous HIV counseling and testing differ in demographic variables, risk behaviors, return rates for posttest appointments, and agreement to partner notification. chi 2 tests were not statistically significant for return rates for post-test appointments or partner notification between the two groups. HIV-positive individuals in the confidential groups were more likely to utilize medical and follow-up services than those in the anonymous group. Anonymous and confidential counseling and testing both appear to achieve the public health objectives of HIV case finding and referral. Hypotheses are offered regarding what may be a progression of testing behaviors (i.e., from anonymous to confidential) with suggestions for future research are suggested.

Adult↗

Characteristics of individuals using different HIV/AIDS counseling and testing programs.

OBJECTIVE: To describe clinically important differences in the characteristics of subjects using three distinct HIV counseling and testing settings: scheduled confidential, scheduled anonymous, and confidential walk-in. DESIGN: An HIV risk-assessment questionnaire was given to individuals prior to receiving HIV-antibody testing and counseling. METHODS: Demographic and behavioral data was analyzed for each of the three counseling and testing settings. RESULTS: Walk-in clinic subjects reported fewer high-risk sexual activities and other risk behaviors than subjects from the other two testing settings. They also included more individuals who were health-care workers and victims of sexual assault. CONCLUSIONS: The three distinct HIV counseling and testing settings each attracted populations with varying degrees of potential for HIV transmission. The results emphasize the importance of maintaining multiple approaches to HIV counseling and testing in order to reach increasingly diverse at-risk populations.

AIDS Serodiagnosis↗

Underdiagnosis of depression in patients with coronary artery disease: the role of nonspecific symptoms.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the underdiagnosis of major depression (MD) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) may be explained by low specificity and mild severity of depressive symptoms in affected patients. METHOD: The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was used to assess depression symptoms in thirty-one patients with both CAD and MD, and eighty-three patients with CAD but without MD. RESULTS: Only ten (48%) of the symptoms were significantly more common in the MD than in the non-MD group, and nine symptoms were present in at least 20 percent of both groups. Of these nine nonspecific symptoms, only one (insomnia) was more severe in the MD patients than in the non-MD group (p < .006). When all twenty-one symptoms were rank ordered by frequency, the most common symptoms in the MD group were also the most common in the non-MD group (r = .91, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The symptoms of major depression were found to be relatively mild and nonspecific in patients with CAD. This may help to explain why depression is underdiagnosed in cardiac patients.

Aged↗

MMPI differences for renal, psychiatric, and general medical patients.

Renal failure has both medical and psychological implications. Indeed, various psychiatric problems related to end-stage renal disease have been reported in the literature; however, the focus has been on anxiety and depression. While previous research has dealt with the comparisons of patients with renal failure, few studies have investigated the comparison of renal patients with psychiatric and general medical patients. The present study compared renal patients (N = 24) with a group of depressed psychiatric patients (N = 24) and a group of general medical patients (N = 24) on the MMPI. The results suggested that the renal group presented a psychological profile that more closely resembled that of the depressed psychiatric group than that of patients with other chronic medical conditions.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Depressive symptomatology and treatment in patients with end-stage renal disease.

A sample of 60 patients selected at random from an adult population of 419 patients with end-stage renal disease was assessed for major depression. Diagnoses were based on a structured interview using DSM-III criteria. Eighteen patients (30%) met criteria for a major depression on a lifetime basis. In addition, depressive symptoms and treatment for each depressed patient are reported.

Adult↗

Exercise training reduces depression and increases the performance of pleasant activities in hemodialysis patients.

This study compares the effects of a structured exercise training program to the therapeutic benefits of a 'support' group on the depressed mood and reduced performance of pleasant activities by hemodialysis patients. After 6 months of an aerobic exercise training program, the 10 exercisers showed a significant increase in maximal aerobic capacity (VO2max) and a significant decrease in dysphoric mood when compared to 7 patients attending the support group. Support group participants reported a significant decrease in pleasant activities while there was no change in the exercisers. Eighteen months after the exercise training program, the exercisers reported continued low levels of depressed mood, and were performing significantly more pleasant activities than they reported prior to the exercise program. The results of this study suggest an exercise training program may be useful in the psychosocial rehabilitation of some hemodialysis patients.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Living-related kidney donors: a multicenter study of donor education, socioeconomic adjustment, and rehabilitation.

To determine the consequences of living-related kidney donation, a study was conducted of 536 donors whose nephrectomies had been performed at nine geographically dispersed centers during the past 12 years. The data demonstrated that greater than 84.0% of the donors thought they had been adequately informed regarding all aspects of donation, and less than 15.0% reported being pressured in their decision. Only two serious medical complications were directly attributable to the surgery, greater than 92.0% of the donors believed their health had not been adversely affected by donation, and 96.8% reaffirmed their decision regardless of the graft's success or the financial distress they experienced (P greater than .05). However, greater than 14.0% experienced direct pressure, particularly not to donate. Donation also appeared to stress previously troubled marriages, especially among donors without a religious affiliation, who were pressured to donate by their families, or who borrowed from family members (P less than .05). Substantial unreimbursed expenses (greater than or equal to $1,000) were incurred by 43 donors, and 23.2% of all donors reported that donation caused a financial hardship.

Adolescent↗

Diagnosis of depression in patients with end-stage renal disease. Comparative analysis.

To evaluate the variability in the diagnosis of depression in patients receiving maintenance therapy for end-stage renal disease, a study of 60 randomly selected patients was conducted. Three representative depression assessment methods were employed concurrently in the evaluation of each patient: (1) a structured psychiatric interview based on the diagnostic criteria of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-III); (2) the Beck Depression Inventory; and (3) the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List. Among the 60 patients, 47 percent were classified as depressed by the Beck Depression Inventory, whereas 17 percent and 5 percent were determined to be depressed according to the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List and DSM-III criteria, respectively. The data demonstrated these differences to be dependent on the overlap between the symptoms of uremia and depression, as well as on the duration of those symptoms. This study also suggests that death wish, suicidal intention, and other psychologic symptoms should receive particular attention in the clinical assessment of depression in patients with end-stage renal disease.

Adult↗

Geographic access to health care services: the case of maintenance hemodialysis.

A longitudinal study of the system for delivering maintenance hemodialysis services in St Louis, Missouri was conducted to determine the significance of geographic access in the selection and continued utilization of a treatment facility. Historically, center hemodialysis patients in this metropolitan area received care at four centrally located facilities. In 1981, two new, independent facilities were constructed; a satellite of an existing unit was opened in 1983. The data obtained in this study demonstrated that end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients generally did not change their mode of maintenance therapy, their treatment facility, or the location of their personal residence. When such changes occurred, they were rarely precipitated by a desire to reduce travel time to treatment. Furthermore, the opportunity to improve geographic access by transferring to a closer unit was perceived by patients to be viable only if they could retain their physician. It was concluded, therefore, that travel time to treatment is a relatively unimportant aspect of the chronic care of center hemodialysis patients in a metropolitan area.

Adult↗

Does social support determine the treatment setting for hemodialysis patients?

The availability of an adequate system of social support has been suggested to be significant in determining whether an end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patient is dialyzed in a center or at home. To evaluate this hypothesis more completely, we conducted a study of social support among 257 home and center hemodialysis patients receiving maintenance therapy at four facilities in a midwestern, metropolitan area. A statistically significant difference, chi 2(3) = 14.031, P = 0.0029, was observed in the percentage of patients with social support available to them across the four facilities. The distribution of patients between home and center hemodialysis at the facilities also differed significantly, chi 2(3) = 14.919, P = 0.0019. An adequate social support system was present among 96.4% of the 55 home hemodialysis patients and 85.6% of the 202 center hemodialysis patients, a difference that was statistically significant, chi 2(1) = 4.684, P = 0.0305. However, a more detailed analysis of these findings revealed that the presence of social support was not significant, chi 2(1) = 1.080, P = 0.2995, in determining whether and ESRD patient was dialyzed at home or in a center after accounting for the facility differences. The facility differences remained significant in determining the setting of hemodialysis even after correcting for social support, chi 2(3) = 10.740, P = 0.0132. We concluded, therefore, that the attitudes of clinical staff toward home and center hemodialysis and the willingness of staff to develop those resources that facilitate a specific treatment setting are the principal elements in the therapy selection process.

Adult↗

Treatment bias in the management of end-stage renal disease.

A study was conducted of 419 patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) being treated by center or home hemodialysis or by renal transplantation at four facilities located within 2.5 km of each other. The objectives were to examine the distribution of patients among the three modes of treatment and to analyze patient transfers to alternate modes of ESRD therapy. While white patients at each facility were comparable (P greater than 0.05) on age, sex, travel time to treatment, marital status, work or employment status, and the presence of diabetes mellitus, the distribution of patients among the treatment modes differed significantly (P less than 0.001) across the facilities. Similarly, the sociodemographic and diagnostic characteristics of the nonwhite patients were comparable at each of the facilities (P greater than 0.05); however, despite observable variation among the facilities in the distribution of these patients, the differences did not achieve statistical significance (P greater than 0.05). Patient transfers to alternate modes of ESRD therapy were infrequent, and among center hemodialysis patients, the distribution of transfers differed significantly across the facilities (P less than 0.001). It is concluded that the distribution of patients was dependent on the patient's initial mode of therapy and the staff attitudes at the individual facilities.

Adult↗

The quality of maintenance therapy for end-stage renal disease. A review of social adjustment and rehabilitation.

Prior to 1972, ESRD patients selected for maintenance dialysis or renal transplantation were generally young, emotionally and socially well-adjusted, and physically healthy except for their renal disease. Following the enactment of Public Law 92-603 (1972), which extended Medicare coverage to virtually all ESRD patients, the criteria for the selection of patients were substantially liberalized. During the past decade, maintenance therapy has increasingly been provided for severely debilitated ESRD patients whose reported levels of rehabilitation have been less than desired. While the majority of the current ESRD patient population have not been restored to their premorbid levels of individual and social functioning, recent studies suggest this may be the result of initiating rehabilitation efforts too late in the disease process. For optimal social functioning to be achieved by ESRD patients, it is concluded that psychosocial intervention and support must be initiated at the time ESRD is diagnosed and be focused on the maintenance, rather than rehabilitation, of the patient's functioning.

Humans↗