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Biomedical subjects

I Lesser

Publications and source records attributed to I Lesser.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Performance of older depressed patients on two cognitive malingering tests: false positive rates for the Rey 15-item memorization and dot counting tests.

To our knowledge, no investigations have been undertaken to determine whether depression impacts performance on two commonly used tests to detect malingering of cognitive symptoms, the Rey 15-item Memorization Test and the Rey Dot Counting Test. This is a critical issue because of the high rate of depressive symptoms in patients with neurological conditions. It was hypothesized that depressed individuals, especially those with more severe depression, might be at risk for failing the tests, because these patients exhibit mild deficits in mental speed, visual perceptual/spatial skills, and visual memory, abilities required for successful completion of the malingering tests. However, examination of test performance in 64 older participants with major depression generally revealed very low false positive rates for most test scores, and severity of depression was unrelated to test scores. These results add to accumulating data supporting the validity of these cognitive malingering tests by documenting few false positive identifications.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1997

Clinical presentations of depression in African American and white outpatients.

The objective of this study was to compare the nature and severity of depressive symptoms in moderately depressed, medically healthy African American and White patients. Twenty age- and gender-matched subjects from each ethnic group who met criteria for a major depression were assessed with structured interviews, and their depression was evaluated with the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D). Overall severity of the depression was comparable between groups. When the individual HAM-D items were grouped into factors, Whites showed significantly more articulated/observed mood and anxiety symptoms, whereas African Americans had significantly more diurnal variation to their depression. There were no differences on other neurovegetative symptoms. These results are discussed in the context of past studies, which often used very heterogeneous populations not matched for socioeconomic status, and included those with comorbid psychiatric and medical illnesses. Although our sample size was relatively modest, the results suggest that clinicians should be aware of potential differences in symptom presentation when treating patients from different ethnic groups.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Cognitive functioning in a mildly to moderately depressed geriatric sample: relationship to chronological age.

The neuropsychological performance of three age cohorts of depressed patients (46-59, 60-69, and 70-85) was compared with the performance of age-matched control subjects to determine whether advancing age potentiates the effect of depression on cognition. Depression and increasing age did not interact to produce more pronounced cognitive deterioration in our unmedicated, medically healthy, well-educated outpatients diagnosed with mild to moderate major depression. Test findings suggest that presence of mild to moderate depression may result in premature "aging" of specific cognitive abilities (such as nonverbal memory, word generation, and categorization), but once the seventh decade is reached, cognition in depressed and nondepressed individuals appears to be comparable.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1990

Sequence of improvement in agoraphobia with panic attacks.

In a multi-center comparison of alprazolam to placebo in the treatment of agoraphobia with panic attacks, the sequence of sustained remission in both treatment groups, was panic attacks before phobias. This may suggest that phobias are secondary to panic attacks in the pathogenesis of the disorder, although other explanations may account for these data and are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Late-onset schizophrenia. Studying clinical validity.

The authors compared clinical characteristics of 36 late-onset schizophrenic patients from four centers (hospitals in San Diego, Baltimore, Los Angeles, and Montreal). There was a preponderance of the paranoid type with bizarre delusions and auditory hallucinations, chronic course of illness, and response to relatively low doses of neuroleptics. A comparison of late-onset and younger schizophrenic patients revealed both similarities and differences between the two groups. The authors reviewed the relevant literature and discussed the implications for assessing the validity of the concept of late-onset schizophrenia. They believe that, although less common, late-onset schizophrenia is probably as valid an entity (or group of entities) as schizophrenia with onset before age 45.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Which veterans go to VA psychiatric hospitals for care: a pilot study.

In a study to determine whether certain factors could predict whether veterans seek psychiatric care at a Veterans Administration psychiatric hospital or at other public hospitals, data were collected on 644 visits by veterans to one VA psychiatric hospital and two non-VA public hospitals. Race, alcoholism, number of presenting problems, kind of prior psychiatric hospitalizations, and whether the disability was service-connected were significant factors in distinguishing veterans seeking psychiatric care at the different hospitals. Age, marital status, income, and transiency were not important factors. Minority status and alcoholism appeared to be independent of each other in predicting greater use of the VA hospital.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Case report of withdrawal dyskinesia associated with amoxapine.

The antidepressant amoxapine is structurally related to the neuroleptic loxapine and can cause side effects related to hypothesized dopamine receptor blockade. This case of withdrawal dyskinesia after amoxapine discontinuation further demonstrates its potential for causing side effects associated with neuroleptics.

Amoxapine↗