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Biomedical subjects

B R Ballinger

Publications and source records attributed to B R Ballinger.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Community care for demented and non-demented elderly people: a comparison study of financial burden, service use, and unmet needs in family supporters.

OBJECTIVE: To measure and compare perceived financial burden, use of services, and perceived unmet service needs of supporters of demented and non-demented elderly people. DESIGN: Comparison study of age and sex matched demented and non-demented elderly people and their supporters. SETTING: 25 primary health care teams in Dundee. SUBJECTS: 114 community resident elderly (age over 65) people with dementia, 114 age and sex matched comparators, and the main informal supporter of each elderly person. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Carers' perceptions of financial impact of looking after an old person, service use (from a list of locally available services), unmet service needs, and needs for three types of generic service (help with supervision, housework, or personal care). RESULTS: Financial impact was low, except for extra household expense in the dementia group. There was significantly greater use of mainstream domiciliary and day care services in the dementia group. Dementia was nevertheless associated with a high level of unmet need, mainly for more mainstream support and help with supervision of the elderly person. CONCLUSION: Supervisory care for demented elderly people should be further developed within an expanded domiciliary service to meet supporters needs.

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PubMed1991

The psychiatric symptoms, diagnoses and care needs of 100 mentally handicapped patients.

One hundred randomly selected residents of a mental handicap hospital originating from Dundee were interviewed using a standardised assessment based on the modified Standardised Clinical Interview Schedule. Information on certain behavioural items and self-care skills was obtained from nursing staff and case records. An ICD-9 diagnosis could be made for 80 individuals, including diagnoses usually reserved for children. Thirty subjects were regarded as needing long-term psychiatric mental handicap hospital care. All but one of the remaining 70 subjects required a staffed residential placement and all but 15 some form of out-patient or short-term in-patient provision from specialist health services. The findings indicate a need for approximately 30 psychiatric mental handicap beds per 100,000 population.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Geriatric psychiatry manpower--seven services in Scotland.

The method of calculating district psychiatric manpower described by Watson was applied to seven geriatric psychiatry services in Scotland serving a population of 1,445,000 including 209,600 individuals over the age of 65 years of age. The overall medical staffing of these services was only 63.6% of the estimated requirement and when individual consultants were considered only 62% of the necessary time was available. If it is assumed that half of the extra medical time should be provided by consultants, then 3.2 consultant WTEs will be needed for geriatric psychiatry for a population of 200,000 with 30,000 elderly people. If there was no change in the proportion of medical work provided by consultants, the figure would be 2.9 consultant WTEs per 30,000 population aged over 65 years. Extra supporting staff are also required to meet the requirements of the Watson formula.

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PubMed1987

Personality disorder in mental handicap.

100 randomly selected mildly or moderately mentally retarded adults were assessed for personality disorder using the Standardized Assessment of Personality devised by Mann et al. (1981). By the terms of this instrument 56% of patients showed features of abnormal personality, and in 22% this abnormality was marked, suggesting the presence of personality disorder. Personality problems may be a more significant factor in assessing a mentally retarded person's acceptability in a community setting than has hitherto been realized.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Dementia and immobility.

Structured physical and psychiatric assessments were performed on 100 elderly women with dementia admitted to either a geriatric or a geriatric psychiatry unit, and the relationship between physical and mental factors and the ability to transfer was investigated. There was an association between limited mobility and physical and psychiatric evidence of cerebrovascular and cardiac disease; but none between mobility and most measures of degree of dementia, vision, hearing, balance, cerebellar function, position sense, ankle reflexes, postural hypotension, locomotor disease, medication or ratings for depression, anxiety, irritability, hostility, lack of co-operation, suspiciousness, or distractibility. This suggests that in dementia the main cause of limited mobility is focal neurological damage.

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PubMed1987

A standardised assessment of personality disorder in mental handicap.

Forty patients with mild or moderate mental handicap were assessed by two psychiatrists using the scale devised by Mann et al, 1981 which describes abnormalities of personality. Analysis by weighted Kappa showed excellent agreement for some items (introversion, hysterical explosive, sociopathic, anankastic and affective). This questionnaire may be useful in the evaluation of personality in the mentally handicapped.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Anticonvulsant medication in a mental handicap hospital: 1972-1982.

The prescription sheets for all patients in a mental handicap hospital on one day in 1972 and on the same date in 1982 were examined to identify trends in anticonvulsant medication over a 10-year period. There was a reduction in size of the hospital population associated with fewer very young and milder handicapped persons. Prescription of anticonvulsants fell slightly during the decade under study with a dramatic fall in the use of phenobarbitone, and a parallel increase in the prescription of carbamazepine. Other changes included the use of sodium valproate in a significant minority of patients and the occasional use of clonazepam in 1982, while phenytoin remained a first-rank anticonvulsant throughout the period under review. The proportions of patients on polytherapy did not change over the 10-year period, though the contribution of phenobarbitone to the combined drug regimes was significantly reduced.

Anticonvulsants↗
PubMed1985

Standardised Psychiatric Interview in elderly demented patients.

Twenty patients with dementia were assessed by two raters, using the Standardised Psychiatric Interview of Goldberg et al (1970). Inter-rater reliability was good or fair for many items, but test-retest reliability and validity were less good. A single interview does not appear to provide a full picture of psychiatric (excluding cognitive) symptoms in demented patients.

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PubMed1984

The effects of opening a geriatric psychiatry day hospital.

Referrals of elderly patients with organic brain syndromes to a Geriatric Psychiatry Service were studied before and after the introduction of a Day Hospital. The Day Hospital was used for more patients than predicted and was perceived to be of benefit. However, there was little change in the number of patients admitted to hospital or put on the waiting list for in-patient care in the year after referral.

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PubMed1984

The natural history of behavioural symptoms among severely and profoundly mentally retarded patients.

In a study of the evolution of behavioural symptoms in severely and profoundly mentally retarded adults in hospital over a period of six years, items of abnormal behaviour were found to be remarkably persistent. There is a high prevalence rate of psychiatric disorder in this population, when this disorder is defined in a widely descriptive sense. A substantially improved living environment, and increased staff-patient ratios, are prerequisites for improving disturbed behaviour in these patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Antidepressants.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Antidepressive Agents↗
PubMed1983

Erythrocyte ouabain binding in dementia.

Age-matched patients attending a geriatric psychiatry day hospital, one group with Alzheimer's dementia and another with functional illness, were studied and compared with similar inpatient groups. Erythrocyte ouabain binding was assayed and Clifton ratings completed. In day hospital patients ouabain binding was significantly lower in the demented group (p less than 0.008) than in the functional group. There was a positive correlation between Clifton ratings and ouabain in the whole group (p less than 0.05). No significant differences were found in inpatient groups. Possible reasons for findings are discussed.

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