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Biomedical subjects

G Edman

Publications and source records attributed to G Edman.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Symptoms and disability until 3 months after mild TBI.

OBJECTIVE: Examine frequency, character and course of symptoms until 3 months after MTBI and the relation between symptoms and disability. METHODS: Prospective cohort study of 122 consecutive patients with MTBI. Symptom assessment after 1, 7 and 14 days and 3 months post-injury by use of Rivermead Post-concussional Questionnaire. Disability assessment by use of Rivermead Head Injury Follow-up Questionnaire. RESULTS: Patients reporting one or more symptoms declined from 86% on day 1 to 49% 3 months post-injury, when 25% also reported change in one or more domains of everyday activities. Poor memory, sleep disturbance and fatigue were most commonly reported. Symptom and disability scores were correlated (tau = 0.60; p < 0.001). Early symptom load correlated with late symptom load (tau = 0.38; p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Symptoms gradually decline post-injury. Symptoms correlate with disability at 3 months. Patients with early high symptom load are at risk for developing persisting complaints.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2004

The significance of addressing trauma in outpatient psychiatry.

Establishing post-traumatic stress disorder as a psychiatric diagnosis has only marginally increased awareness of traumatic experiences. Traumas are inconsistently recorded in initial psychiatric histories and, when observed, rarely reflected in the primary diagnosis and treatment. The present study aimed to investigate if there is an association between sufficiently addressing trauma and long-term outcome and what factors affect whether trauma, according to the patient's view, is sufficiently addressed or not. Socio-demographic data, experiences of trauma and treatment, and outcome, were collected retrospectively from Arabic, Iranian, Turkish and Swedish patients, who had visited a psychiatric clinic 3-4 years earlier. Fifty-one patients whose traumatic experiences had been sufficiently addressed were compared with 39 patients who perceived that their traumas had not been addressed. Logistic regression analyses were performed to examine relationships between clinical variables and whether or not traumas had been addressed. Patients with trauma sufficiently addressed reported high confidence in staff (odds ratio, OR=7.2, p<0.001), high self-rated health (OR=8.0, p<0.01) and low scores on the Self-rating Inventory for PTSD (OR=7.7, p<0.05) and Depression Scale (OR=3.0, p<0.15). Reporting less than five different traumas (OR=4.6, p<0.01) and being an ethnic Swede (OR=2.4, p<0.10) were the background variables independently related to having trauma sufficiently addressed. Addressing trauma may improve patients' confidence in staff, self-rated health and trauma-related symptoms. Multiplicity of traumas and belonging to an ethnic minority implied that trauma was less addressed.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Flunitrazepam abuse and personality characteristics in male forensic psychiatric patients.

Sixty male non-psychotic forensic psychiatric patients (aged 16-35 years) were studied after they completed their ordinary forensic psychiatric assessment (FPA). The prevalence of flunitrazepam (FZ) abuse was investigated by using both structured and in-depth interviews with the objective of studying the relationship between the abuse and personality traits. The patient's characteristics, DSM-IV disorders, and actual sentences were obtained by studying their files. In order to obtain measures on their personality traits, self-report inventories were administered to the patients. Eighteen out of 60 patients were FZ abusers, but only 4 of them received a diagnosis related to the FZ abuse during the ordinary FPA. In almost all cases, however, indications of the FZ abuse were found in the files. No differences in personality traits were found between the groups. The frequency of previous admissions to an FPA and actual sentences of robbery, weapons offenses, narcotic-related offenses, and other crimes (such as theft) among the FZ abusers deviated significantly from forensic non-FZ abusers. Therefore, the FZ abuse per se might be more responsible for their tendency to commit crimes characterized by danger and thrill-seeking (such as robbery, weapons offences, and theft) than personality. The most important conclusion is that assessment of FZ abuse is needed in forensic psychiatry.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Aberrant tyrosine transport across the cell membrane in patients with schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: There is evidence that patients with schizophrenia exhibit abnormalities, not only in the brain but also in peripheral organs. An abnormal cell membrane composition has been suggested to be a common denominator, supported by findings of alterations in membrane phospholipid levels. In a previous study, the transport of amino acids across the plasma membrane was investigated with fibroblasts from patients with schizophrenia and controls. An isolated decrease in the maximal transport capacity (V(max)) of tyrosine was observed in the cells from patients. In this context, tyrosine transport across the fibroblast membrane was investigated in patients with schizophrenia and healthy control subjects. METHODS: Skin fibroblasts were obtained from 36 patients with schizophrenia (15 first episode and 21 chronic) and 10 healthy controls. Tyrosine transport across the cell membrane was studied in cultivated fibroblasts. The V(max) and the affinity of the tyrosine binding sites (K(m)) were determined. RESULTS: Significantly lower V(max) (F(1,41) = 12.80; P =.001; effect size = 1.36) and K(m) (F(1,41) = 24.85; P<.001; effect size = 1.00) were observed in fibroblasts from the patients. The findings were present in both neuroleptic-naive patients with their first episode and patients with chronic schizophrenia. CONCLUSIONS: The lower V(max) and K(m) are compatible with a cell membrane disturbance and support the view of schizophrenia as a systemic disorder. The decreased V(max) and K(m) observed in cells from schizophrenic patients probably reflect a genetic trait, as the changes were transmitted through several cell generations of cultured fibroblast.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Sex differences in schizophrenia as seen in the Rorschach test.

Research has shown the importance of sex differences for various aspects of schizophrenia. This study focused on sex-related differences in thought processing as shown in the Rorschach test. Thirty-six schizophrenic patients (18 men and 18 women) were tested with the Rorschach in accordance with the Comprehensive System. The results showed that the female patients were more active in handling information input but showed more impairment in conceptualization. The male patients showed more perceptual disturbance. It was concluded that the Rorschach might add information in differentiating among subtle thought disturbances. It might even be useful to detect relationships between thought processes and neuroleptic medication.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Muscle biopsy, macro EMG, and clinical characteristics in patients with schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: In a previous study of motor unit properties in patients with schizophrenia, muscle fiber histologic and electrophysiologic abnormalities were observed. The present study was designed to compare patients with schizophrenia with healthy control subjects with regard to muscle fiber histology and motor unit function. A second objective was to relate these variables to clinical characteristics. METHODS: Twelve patients with first-episode schizophrenia and fifteen patients with chronic schizophrenia (DSM-III-R) and 27 matched control subjects were included in the study. Muscle biopsies were performed either in m. tibialis anterior or m. vastus lateralis. Electromyographic recordings (macro EMG) were made from the m. tibialis anterior motor units. Psychiatric ratings included the PANSS and extrapyramidal side effects. RESULTS: Seven of the muscle biopsy specimens from the patients and one from the control subjects were classified as abnormal (p =.049). The most frequent abnormality was atrophic muscle fibers. Eight patients and no control subjects exhibited pathological macro EMG (p =.032). The findings were present in chronic as well as in first-episode patients with schizophrenia. CONCLUSIONS: In approximately 50% of the patients, neuromuscular abnormalities were found either in the muscle biopsy or the macro EMG investigations. The results indicate that either a common pathologic process or different pathological processes are at hand in the neuromuscular system in patients with schizophrenia. The findings are compatible with a disturbed cell membrane function.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2000

Swedish universities Scales of Personality (SSP): construction, internal consistency and normative data.

OBJECTIVE: A thorough revision of the Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP) was made by reducing the number of items and improving the psychometric quality as concerns face validity, internal consistency and response differentiation. The revised version was labelled The Swedish universities Scales of Personality (SSP) and now include 91 items divided into 13 scales. METHOD: The SSP were evaluated in a normative, randomly drawn sample (n = 741). All scales were found to be approximately normally distributed. RESULTS: The Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranged from 0.59 to 0.84. The mean inter-item correlations (MIIC) ranged from 0.17 to 0.43. The scale intercorrelation matrix yielded a three-factor solution with Factor 1 reflecting Neuroticism; Factor 2 Aggressiveness; and Factor 3 reflecting Extraversion. CONCLUSION: The original KSP scales were revised, shortened, modernized and psychometrically evaluated. The psychometric properties and the usefulness of the test battery were found to be substantially improved.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Changes in personality pattern during the first pregnancy and lactation.

In order to study personality changes in first pregnancy and lactation, two groups of women (n = 161, mean age 26.8 years) completed the self-report inventory Karolinska Scales of Personality and a scale for emotional dependency during pregnancy and 3 or 6 months after delivery. The results were within normal limits when compared with the normative values. Analysis of variance showed that the subscales Muscular Tension, Somatic Anxiety, and Monotony Avoidance diminished significantly from pregnancy and to the test periods after delivery (all p values < 0.01). Impulsiveness showed the same trend (p = 0.1). The women who had breastfed for at least 8 weeks (91%) differed significantly from those who had not. They had lower scores on the Somatic Anxiety (p = 0.006), Muscular Tension (p = 0.003), Monotony Avoidance (p = 0.039), Suspicion (p = 0.03), Social Desirability (p = 0.045) and the Impulsiveness scale (p = 0.078) and higher scores on the Socialization scale (p = 0.001). Thus, we conclude that most personality traits are stable during first pregnancy and lactation, but some significant changes occur toward a lifestyle interpreted as more relaxed and tolerant to monotony.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1999

Neurological signs and psychomotor performance in patients with schizophrenia, their relatives and healthy controls.

Schizophrenic patients (DSM-III-R) were consecutively recruited and 39 were included. Twenty-one were first-episode and 18 were chronic schizophrenic patients. Thirty of the patients were on neuroleptic medication. Thirty-three parents were included, of whom nine were classified as 'family history positive' and 22 as 'family history negative' of a disposition to psychosis. Fifty-five healthy controls volunteered. The subjects were investigated according to a protocol divided into neurological signs and psychomotor performance (finger-tapping rate, Purdue pegboard test, pronation-supination test, gait and hand-grasp strength). Seventy-eight percent of the patients and 7% of the controls were classified as globally aberrant in signs. The patients and their parents, classified as 'family history positive', exhibited a similar laterality pattern in a finger-tapping test improving performance with the preferred hand, significantly different from the performance of the 'family history negative' parents and normal subjects. Duration of illness, neuroleptic medication and negative symptoms were not related to the occurrence of neurological signs and psychomotor performance. These findings indicate that neurological aberrations are present at the onset of illness and that hereditary factors are associated with motor laterality.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1999

A prospective, long-term study of personality traits in patients with intractable obsessional illness treated by capsulotomy.

The crux when contemplating neurosurgery for otherwise intractable mental illness is whether there is a price which the patient may have to pay, in terms of adverse personality changes, for symptom relief. In the present study of 19 patients undergoing thermo-capsulotomy for intractable obsessional illness, personality characteristics were studied pre-operatively, and at 1-year and 8-year follow-up, using the Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP). Small mean score changes toward normalization were apparent on all 15 KSP scales at the 1-year follow-up, and significant improvements in anxiety proneness were noted at the 8-year follow-up. One patient who sustained a surgical complication showed deviant postoperative scores on scales related to psychopathic traits. There were no such deviant scores for the remaining subjects. The incidence of adverse personality changes following capsulotomy is low and does not increase with time. This conclusion, based on groups of patients, does not of course preclude the possibility that adverse personality changes may occur in individual patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Reported symptoms and clinical findings in a group of subjects with longstanding bruxing behaviour.

Signs and symptoms of craniomandibular dysfunction (CMD) and social medical history were reported in 29 subjects, aged 23-68 years, with longstanding (5 years or more) bruxing behaviour. The subjects were selected from answers to an advertisement in the local newspaper. The subjects presented many symptoms of a general character including somatic and psycho-social problems, sleep disorders (72%), and pain (86%). More than half of the subjects (55%) had symptoms every day. Frequent aches in the neck, back, throat or shoulders were reported by 69% and frequent headache by 48% of the subjects. The most common symptoms of CMD were pain in the face or jaws (48%), stiffness in the jaws in the morning (44%), temporomandibular joint (TMJ) sounds (34%) and fatigue in the jaws during chewing (38%) and the most common clinical signs were more than three muscles tender on palpation (76%), TMJ-sounds (55%) and tenderness of TMJ on lateral palpation (66%). There was a statistically significant correlation between frequent tooth clenching and headache, pain in the neck, back, throat or shoulders, sleep disorders and high scores of the clinical dysfunction index (Di). The frequent clenchers had higher score values than the 'non-clenchers' for pain in the face and the jaws; headache; pain in the neck, back, throat or shoulders and the clinical dysfunction index (Di). These findings indicate a causal relationship between frequent tooth clenching and signs and symptoms of CMD, including headache and pain in the neck, back, throat or shoulders and high pathogenicity for frequent clenching. However, the material in this study is small and some precaution must be taken prior to generalized conclusions. More studies are required, especially sleep laboratory investigations, which could perhaps give answers to some of the numerous questions in this unexplored field of odontology.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Personality traits in a group of subjects with long-standing bruxing behaviour.

The personality pattern of 29 subjects, 10 men and 19 women, with a mean age of 37.7 years (range 23-68) was studied by means of a personality inventory (KSP) and compared with the personality traits of a 'normal population'. The bruxers had significantly higher scores in the somatic anxiety and muscular tension scales and lower scores in the socialization scale; that is, the bruxers were more anxiety-prone, had higher vulnerability for psychosomatic disorders and were less socialized. The frequent clenchers (once to twice a week) comprised a special subgroup within the material with higher values in the somatic anxiety, psychic anxiety and muscular tension scales. A strong correlation was found between high values in the muscular tension scale and headache; aching neck, back, throat or shoulders; tooth clenching; number of muscles tender at palpation and the clinical dysfunction index (Di). The results of this study indicate a possible aetiological relationship between personality, tooth clenching and craniomandibular dysfunction (CMD). However, the material was small and some precaution must be taken prior to generalization of the results. Studies on larger material are needed and especially more studies in sleep laboratories.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Ten-year follow-up study of personality traits in adults with intact and restored dentitions.

The personality traits of 69 of a sample of 70 adolescents aged 25-26 years were re-examined after 10 years by means of a personality inventory (KSP). A total of 11 subjects had intact dentitions (group I), while 18 subjects had had some fillings in their teeth since the first examination (group FI), and 40 subjects had restored dentitions from the starting-point (group F). The subjects with fillings 10 years ago had significantly higher scores in two of the anxiety variables--somatic anxiety and muscular tension--and in the hostility variable, suspicion, than did those without the fillings. Together with the finding of a significant correlation between high scores for the clinical dysfunction index (DiII and DiIII) and the muscular tension scale, the results of this study support the hypothesis of a possible correlation between dental filling therapy, craniomandibular disorders (CMD) and personality. Frequent tooth clenching (once to twice a week or more) was significantly more common among the subjects with fillings 10 years ago. The clenchers scored highest in the somatic anxiety, muscular tension and suspicion scales and constituted a well-defined subgroup within the subjects of this study. There was a highly significant increase of muscular tension among the clenchers during the 10-year examination period compared to the non-clenchers. However, the results of this study are not clear-cut. There was no statistically significant difference in personality between subjects with fillings after 10 years (group F + Fi) and the group of subjects with intact teeth (group I). Hypothetically, this may indicate that the differences found in this study could be due to how long the fillings had been in the mouth and at which age they were inserted. In order to test the hypothesis further and to establish the possible mechanisms behind this finding, more studies are necessary and especially more longitudinal comparative studies between subjects with intact and restored dentitions.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Temperamental vulnerability and suicide risk after attempted suicide.

The aim was to extend recent findings of suggested temperamental features in attempted suicide and to explore possible domains of vulnerability to suicide risk after attempted suicide. Fifty-four psychiatric inpatients hospitalized after a suicide attempt underwent lumbar puncture for analysis of CSF 5-HIAA concentration and also completed the Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP) before discharge from the hospital. Suicide attempters scored high on Somatic Anxiety, Psychic Anxiety, and Muscular Tension, and low on Socialization, findings that support recent findings in suicide attempters followed up after an emergency room visit. Five patients committed early suicide, i.e., within 3 years, and the overall long-term suicide mortality after attempted suicide was 13%. There were significant correlations between survival time among early suicides and CSF 5-HIAA (r = .87; p = .054), and the following KSP scale t scores: Somatic Anxiety (r = -.96; p < .05), Impulsivity ( r = -.88; p < .05), and Socialization (r = 90; p < .05). KSP Socialization showed correlations with CSF 5-HIAA (r = .89; p = .046) among the early suicides. Features of temperamental vulnerability to suicide risk after attempted suicide might involve anxiety proneness, impulsivity, low socialization, and low CSF 5-HIAA.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Comparison between sodium cromoglycate (MDI: metered-dose inhaler) and beclomethasone dipropionate (MDI) in treatment of adult patients with mild to moderate bronchial asthma. A double-blind, double-dummy randomized, parallel-group study.

This study compared the efficacy and tolerability of sodium cromoglycate (SC) and beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP) in adult patients with bronchial asthma inadequately treated with bronchodilators alone. The study was a double-blind, randomized, double-dummy, parallel-group study. Patients with mild to moderate symptomatic asthma, inadequately treated with bronchodilators only, were, after a 2-week run-in (base-line) period, randomized to 8 weeks of treatment with either SC 10 mg four times daily or BDP 100 micrograms four times daily. Salbutamol metered-dose inhaler was given as relief medication. A total of 37 patients were randomized for treatment, 19 patients in the SC group and 18 patients in the BD group. Efficacy and safety were determined by daily record card data: morning and evening peak-expiratory-flow rates (PEFR), daytime and nighttime asthma symptom scores, and rescue salbutamol use. At clinic visits, FEV1 and FVC were measured, as were the physician's and the patient's assessment of the medication at the end of the study. The safety and tolerability of the trial medication were assessed by monitoring adverse events throughout the study. A clinically and statistically significant improvement of the asthma in FEV1, symptom scores, rescue medication, and global opinion of efficacy was observed, and both groups provided equivalent efficacy. The morning PEFR as well as the evening PEFR for both groups improved, but was statistically significant only for the BDP group (M-PEFR). Both drugs were well tolerated with only a few minor adverse events. This trial shows that SC and BDP are equally effective anti-inflammatory treatments for mild to moderate bronchial asthma in adults.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Personality in patients with long-term patellofemoral pain syndrome.

Personality characteristics in patients with long-term patellofemoral pain were compared to those of matched controls and other groups both of non-patients and of psychiatric outpatients with character disorders. Personality was described using the self-administered dependency and alexithymia scales, the Karolinska Scales of Personality and the Rorschach inkblot method. The hypothesis was that the patellofemoral pain patients would have higher levels of anxiety, depression, helplessness, aggression and alexithymic characteristics than the matched controls. There were only a few significant differences between the knee patients and the matched controls. The Rorschach measures suggested significantly greater depression, hostility and passive attitude in the knee patients as compared to the reference data. There were no indications of the hypothesised alexithymic characteristics in the knee patients. If patellofemoral pain patients do not improve as expected, referral to a pain clinic with psychological expertise could be considered.

Adaptation, Psychological↗