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Biomedical subjects

F Andrasik

Publications and source records attributed to F Andrasik.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Psychologic and behavioral aspects of chronic headache.

It is important for physicians to be aware of the expectations and psychologic needs patients have, to understand how psychologic and personality variables can impact care, to realize the importance of patient education, and to be cognizant of how environmental factors can influence headache pain behaviors. Empirical data indicate that the nonpharmacologic treatments of biofeedback, relaxation, and stress coping training can serve as useful adjunctive or alternative procedures, and that the combined use of medication and nonpharmacologic treatments yields the greatest clinical outcome. Certain headache types show minimal response to nondrug therapies alone (cluster, menstrual, and post-traumatic headache). Age and personality variables have a bearing on nondrug treatment outcome as well.

Combined Modality Therapy↗
PubMed1989

When headaches are good.

Occasionally patients with headache present with the complaint of "a really good one." This paper examines three cases of patients with migraine who often referred to their headaches as "good." When the patients were asked what made the headaches good, they immediately tried to clarify their terminology as "just a figure of speech" that really meant bad. Further exploration usually revealed the headache symptoms had indeed been "good" in a relative sense, in that it had somehow served to help the patient avoid a more unpleasant emotional situation. The headache may have allowed a "time out" or a forced period of rest in a hectic schedule, resolved a conflict for the patient in an acceptable way by becoming sick, or represented a suppressed or repressed affect, usually anger. When headaches are described as good, there may very well be something in the patient's life that is worse.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Home- vs. clinic-based biofeedback treatment for pediatric migraine: results of treatment through one-year follow-up.

While temperature biofeedback and related bio-behavioral procedures have become common in the treatment of adult migraineurs, the application of these techniques to the pediatric population has lagged far behind. The current investigation was undertaken to examine various methods for delivering biofeedback with this population. Nine children participated in this single-subject, clinical replication series in which clinic-based therapist-administered, home-based child-administered, and home-based parent-administered treatment formats were evaluated. Headache activity was assessed through the use of a daily headache log. Overall, results supported the utility of temperature biofeedback in the treatment of pediatric migraine. Further, it was suggested that home-based treatments may represent an equally efficacious and more cost-effective alternative to traditional clinic-based treatments. Finally, treatment effects were found to be stable, with results maintaining through a one-year follow-up period.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Behavioral and biochemical effects of gradual reductions in cigarette yields in pregnant and nonpregnant smokers.

Smoking-related risks have been well-documented for both the smoker and the pregnant smoker's unborn child, but the risks associated with low tar/nicotine cigarette smoking are still controversial. The present study examined some of the behavioral and biochemical effects of gradual reductions in tar and nicotine yields in six pregnant and six nonpregnant smokers. Over four sessions spanning a 6-week period, smokers switched to cigarette brands progressively lower in tar and nicotine. Examination of the topographical variables assessed both during (cigarette frequency, puff frequency, and cigarette duration) and between sessions (daily cigarette rate and nicotine intake) revealed significant decreases in both pregnant and nonpregnant smokers' cigarette duration and nicotine intake. Also observed were significantly lower and less variable carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) levels among the pregnant smokers when they smoked the lowest tar and nicotine brands. However, even the pregnant smokers' lower mean COHb levels did not drop below the 3% minimal cardiovascular risk level. The pregnant smokers also tended to have lower and less variable salivary thiocyanate (SCN) levels, but these differences were nonsignificant. The results were discussed in terms of implications for controlled smoking treatment programs for pregnant smokers.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Stressors and psychological symptoms of family practice residents and spouses.

Fifty-nine family practice residents and their spouses from one university-based and three community-based residency programs were studied to assess the frequency of stressful events in their lives and to quantify adverse psychosocial effects associated with that stress. A modified version of a questionnaire produced and tested by the University of Minnesota and the widely used, standardized Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) were used to assess stress and psychological symptoms. There was a high correlation between high numbers of stressful events in the residents' and spouses' lives and high ratings of psychological symptoms. This finding was particularly true for the female residents. Overall, the residents' responses were near the mean for a nonpatient group used as a normative comparison on each of the nine subscales of the SCL-90 and on the overall mean for the entire scale. This finding indicated that the residents, although their lives were quite stressful, were handling the stress without major problems. The residents and their spouses also answered questions about 10 therapeutic interventions concerning stress and indicated which interventions they preferred.

Family Practice↗
PubMed1986

The immediate and long-term effectiveness of overcorrection in treating self-injurious behavior in a mentally retarded adult.

A brief positive practice overcorrection procedure was used as a method of eliminating head-banging in a profoundly mentally retarded adult. Treatment produced an immediate reduction in head-banging episodes, with near zero occurrence of behavior during the third phase of treatment. One year later data collection was resumed on the subject for an 11-week period. Data from the long-term follow-up revealed that head-banging continued to occur, but mean weekly levels of episodes (M = 5.8) were still well below those recorded during the baseline period (M = 18.8). The overcorrection procedure produced immediate short-term effects and, in this case, was also effective in the long-term. Variables related to the maintenance of response suppression are discussed with respect to this intervention's success.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Reduction in headache patients' medical expenses associated with biofeedback and relaxation treatments.

Comparisons are made of self-reported medical costs from a sample of headache patients who underwent various combinations of relaxation training and biofeedback training. The average costs for the 2 years prior to self-regulatory treatment were $955 +/- 480 (3 SEM) for 45 patients; for the 2 years after completing treatment the average costs were $52 +/- 28 (3 SEM) for patients. Within the limitations of the study, medical costs do seem to have been markedly reduced.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Psychophysiological comparisons of three kinds of headache subjects during and between headache states: analysis of post-stress adaptation periods.

Twenty-eight chronic headache sufferers of three headache types (migraine, tension and combined migraine-tension) selected on the basis of explicit inclusion and exclusion criteria and matched on five demographic characteristics were assessed in a headache and non-headache state on a number of psychophysiological measures (frontalis, forearm and neck EMG; cephalic vasomotor response; hand surface temperature; heart rate and skin resistance level) and a number of stimulus conditions (baseline, self-control, cognitive and physical stressors). Results indicated no significant differences between the three headache groups or headache states on any measure during baseline condition. Analyses of post-stress adaptation periods led to the area of most significant differences, with a number of findings lending support for Sternbach's inadequate homeostatic responding hypothesis of migraine, but not tension, headache. No support was found for the sustained levels of muscle tension hypothesis of the etiology of tension headache. Implications for the etiology and treatment of headache are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗