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Biomedical subjects

C Sandman

Publications and source records attributed to C Sandman.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Longitudinal prescribing patterns for psychoactive medications in community-based individuals with developmental disabilities: utilization of pharmacy records.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about longitudinal prescribing practices for psychoactive medications for individuals with intellectual disabilities and developmental disabilities (IDDD) who are living in community settings. METHODS: Computerized pharmacy records were accessed for 2344 community-based individuals with IDDD for whom a total of 3421 prescriptions were written during a 17-month period of study. Forty-two psychoactive medications were rank ordered in terms of prescription frequency. RESULTS: Fifty-two per cent (52%) of all prescriptions written during the study period were for psychoactive medications. Anticonvulsant, antipsychotic and antidepressant medications were the most commonly filled prescriptions among psychoactive medications. Sixty per cent (62%) of the study population was given prescriptions for more than one psychoactive medication and 36% received three or more psychoactive medications. During the study period there was a statistically significant increase in prescriptions filled for olanzapine, risperidone, valproic acid, and clonazepam whereas prescriptions filled for thioridazine, haloperidol, and benzotropine showed a significant decline (P < 0.05-0.001). Distribution of psychoactive drug class by age showed that the majority of prescriptions were filled for individuals between 20 and 50 years with the exception of prescriptions for psychostimulants which peaked for individuals prior to 20 years. CONCLUSIONS: (1) Analysis of pharmacy billing records provides a method for assessing prescribing patterns of psychoactive medications in community-based individuals with IDDD. (2) Polypharmacy for psychoactive medications is prevalent in this setting. (3) The second-generation antipsychotic medications are prominently represented by an increasing number of filled prescriptions during the study period.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Self-injurious behavior: gene-brain-behavior relationships.

This paper summarizes a conference held at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development on December 6-7, 1999, on self-injurious behavior [SIB] in developmental disabilities. Twenty-six of the top researchers in the U.S. from this field representing 13 different disciplines discussed environmental mechanisms, epidemiology, behavioral and pharmacological intervention strategies, neurochemical substrates, genetic syndromes in which SIB is a prominent behavioral phenotype, neurobiological and neurodevelopmental factors affecting SIB in humans as well as a variety of animal models of SIB. Findings over the last decade, especially new discoveries since 1995, were emphasized. SIB is a rapidly growing area of scientific interest to both basic and applied researchers. In many respects it is a model for the study of gene-brain-behavior relationships in developmental disabilities.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Clozapine increases EEG photic driving in clinical responders.

Photically driven electroencephalography was tested in 17 chronic schizophrenia patients who were treated with clozapine for 5 weeks. Eight of the 17 patients showed clinical improvement on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (delta BPRS > 30%) while the other 9 patients remained unchanged (delta BPRS < 15%). In comparison with the nonresponders, clozapine responders had a significantly greater increase in photic driving in the electroencephalogram (EEG), primarily in the low-frequency range of alpha band (7.2 hertz [Hz], 8.3 Hz, 9.0 Hz, and 9.6 Hz, but not 12.0 Hz). The difference in the resting EEG between the responders and nonresponders did not reach statistical significance. These findings suggested that EEG photic driving might be more sensitive than the resting EEG in detecting the central nervous system drug effect. Further analysis revealed that the increase of EEG photic driving was positively correlated with patients' clinical improvement. Combined with our previous observation in the drug-free schizophrenia patients who had lower EEG photic driving, present results supported the hypothesis that the amount of EEG alpha activity, particularly its synchronization to the external stimuli, could reflect the thalamic function in sensory information processing in schizophrenia.

Adult↗