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Biomedical subjects

Erik Falkum

Publications and source records attributed to Erik Falkum.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

[To what extent are Norwegian doctors familiar with their own support systems?].

BACKGROUND: The Norwegian Medical Association's (NMA) Coordinating Committee for doctors' health and social support wished to document to what extent Norwegian doctors are familiar with three existing support alternatives: 1) an assigned general practitioner for all colleagues who want this, "doctor-for-doctor", 2) three consultations with especially trained colleagues from the county branch of the NMA with no record-keeping or charge and 3) a free of charge consultation or week-long course for the doctor with or without spouse at a dedicated resort, Villa Sana, located at a private clinic approximately 100 km from Oslo. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Postal questionnaire to a representative sample of 998 active Norwegian doctors. The response rate was 76%. RESULTS: Two thirds of the doctors were familiar with the local consultation possibilities and half of them knew about the Villa Sana concept. Older doctors and doctors living in the southern part of Norway were more familiar with these arrangements. Approximately 11% had used or were using the "doctor-for-doctor" arrangement, and 7 % had experience with the specially trained colleagues in the county branch of the NMA. Half of the respondents emphasised the importance of anonymity of such consultations; i.e. no record-keeping. Two thirds of the doctors found it necessary to have specific treatment systems for doctors, particularly with regard to addiction and mental health problems. INTERPRETATION: The results indicate that there is a greater need for the offers described than the current availability.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

The quality of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition dependent personality disorder prototype.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the quality of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition dependent personality disorder (DPD) prototype with special reference to possible bidimensionality. METHOD: The sample included 1078 patients, 81% (n = 875) had 1 or more personality disorders. The proportion of patients with DPD was 11.3% (n = 122). Frequency distribution, chi2, correlations, reliability statistics, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed. RESULTS: Of the DPD criteria, criterion 3 showed a higher correlation with avoidant personality disorder than with DPD itself, whereas criterion 5 was weakly correlated with DPD, findings being confirmed by an exploratory factor analysis and a low internal consistency of all DPD criteria. An a priori hypothesized 2-factor model was confirmed by the confirmatory factor analysis. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate a moderate to low quality of the DPD construct. The main objection is that DPD is based too heavily on a bidimensional model of perceived incompetence and dysfunctional attachment. Items should be revised, in particular, items 3 and 5.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Is harm avoidance an essential feature of patients with panic disorder?

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies on the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) in patients with panic disorder (PD) have failed to support Cloninger's hypothesis that PD is not specifically related to any of the 3 personality dimensions. In most studies, patients with PD had clearly higher harm avoidance (HA) scores. This finding, however, could be biased by comorbid personality disorders in the samples. In the present study, we examined the TPQ scores in 43 patients without comorbid personality disorders. METHOD: The differences between PD patients without personality disorders and control subjects were examined by hierarchical analyses of variance. RESULTS: We found that PD patients without personality disorders had higher HA scores than control subjects, whereas significant differences were not demonstrated for the novelty seeking and reward dependence dimensions. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that repeated demonstrations of elevated HA scores in patients with PD are not crucially influenced by comorbid personality disorders.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The relationship between interpersonal problems and occupational stress in physicians.

OBJECTIVE: This article examined the associations between occupational stress and interpersonal problems in physicians. METHOD: A nationwide representative sample of Norwegian physicians received the 64-item version of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP-64) (N=862, response rate=70%) and six instruments measuring occupational stress. Comparison of means, correlation and reliability statistics and multiple regression analyses were applied. RESULTS: The IIP-64 total score had a significant impact on job satisfaction, perceived unrealistic expectancies, communication with colleagues and nurses and on stress from interaction with patients. Being overly subassertive was related to low job satisfaction. Being overly expressive was linked to the experience of unrealistic expectancies from others and lack of positive feedback, whereas overly competitive physicians tended to have poorer relationships with both colleagues and nurses. CONCLUSIONS: Addressing interpersonal problems in medical school and postgraduate training may be a valuable measure to prevent job stress and promote quality of care.

Female↗