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Biomedical subjects

G E Hardy

Publications and source records attributed to G E Hardy.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

The Second Sheffield Psychotherapy Project: rationale, design and preliminary outcome data.

The cost-efficiency of psychotherapy research can be enhanced by (a) dissemination of the rationale and design of large-scale investigations whilst still under way, (b) incorporation of process measures within comparative outcome studies, (c) cumulative development of a series of related studies, and (d) sharing of recordings and other data with other investigators. We present the rationale and design, including full details of process and outcome measures, of the second Sheffield psychotherapy project, in which 120 white-collar, professional and managerial employees presenting with major depressive disorder receive either eight or 16 sessions of either prescriptive (cognitive/behavioural) or exploratory (relationship-oriented) therapy in a 2 x 2 design. Ethical considerations prompted the analysis of preliminary outcome data on 48 clients. Results suggested substantial clinical improvement, of similar magnitude for both methods and both durations of treatment, except that exploratory therapy appeared more effective than prescriptive in relation to interpersonal difficulties. Other workers are invited to build collaboratively on this research by making their own process analyses of recordings available from this study, relating these analyses to the existing impact and outcome data, and developing comparable data sets based on the design and initial results of this project.

Depressive Disorder

Therapist response modes in prescriptive vs. exploratory psychotherapy.

Therapists' use of verbal response modes was compared in two forms of psychotherapy offered to 27 clients in a crossover design, where each client saw the same therapist throughout both treatments. This design isolated effects due to treatment techniques, specified in manuals followed by therapists, from those due to therapist or client differences. As predicted, therapists used more interpretation and exploration in an exploratory, relationship-oriented therapy, and asked more closed and open questions, and gave more general advisements and information, during a prescriptive, cognitive/behavioural therapy. The magnitude of the differences obtained ranged from a twofold to a sixfold difference in the percentages of each response mode offered in the two treatments. Also as predicted, therapists were more verbally active in the prescriptive therapy. These findings confirm previous research showing large differences in therapist contributions to different types of psychotherapy, demonstrating that these are not attributable to personal characteristics of therapists or clients.

Adult

Chest radiographs during isoniazid therapy.

For most tuberculin reactors, chest radiographs are obtained at the beginning of, at various intervals through the course of, and at the end of the year of isoniazid preventive therapy. A study of 1,524 tuberculin reactors was performed to determine the value of chest radiographs obtained after therapy was begun; 1,315 had normal radiographs at the beginning and end of therapy, and 209 had radiographic abnormalities at both times. No significant changes were noted in any of the 1,524 patients' radiographs. Similar results had been reported for 551 tuberculin reactors in an earlier study. This provides a total of 2,075 patients for whom no value could be found in the subsequent radiographs. We found no value in repeating normal chest radiographs of positive reactors if they had completed at least 9 months of the properly recommended 12 months of isoniazid preventive therapy. The lack of value of repeat radiographs, coupled with their fixed cost and the potential risk of unnecessary radiation, dictated our change in policy--we no longer repeat normal chest radiographs in such persons.

Child

Antibody persistence after primary immunization with trivalent oral poliovirus vaccine.

Five years after primary infant immunization with trivalent oral poliovirus vaccine, employing either a three-dose primary series as recommended by the U.S. Public Health Service Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) or a four-dose series as recommended by the Committee on Infectious Diseases of the American Academy of Pediatrics. 115 children were serologically tested for persistence of neutralizing antibodies by the microneutralization test. Of the 57 individuals immunized according to the ACIP recommendation, antibody persistence was demonstrated in 92% for type 1 poliovirus, 98% for type 2, and 84% for type 3. Of those 58 individuals originally receiving a four-dose primary infant immunization series, the persistence of antibody was 98% to type 1, 98% to type 2, and 87% to type 3. Twenty-one of 24 negative sera showed neutralizing ability when tested by a more sensitive plaque reduction test. Thus, individuals completing either immunization schedule demonstrated satisfactory persistence of neutralizing antibody to all three poliovirus types over a five-year period.

Antibodies, Viral

Lymphocytic choriomeningitis from pet hamster exposure: a local public health experience.

Eleven cases of hamster associated lymphocytic choriomeningitis occurred within a space of four months in Jefferson County, Alabama residents. A single Birmingham breeder was the source of the infected hamsters. Ten cases experienced an illness of one to three weeks duration with grippe-like symptoms being most frequent. Complaints of nine cases suggested meningeal involvement, and one was asymptomatic. All patients recovered uneventfully. Frequent hamster contact had occurred in most cases, although three individuals reported infrequent or room exposure to the animals. The holding of hamsters for observation prior to sale, random testing of all breeders' stock, and the distribution of printed information with each hamster sold are suggested as precautions against future outbreaks of this nature.

Adolescent