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Biomedical subjects

J L Louks

Publications and source records attributed to J L Louks.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Young male violent death trends in the general population during the Vietnam era.

Suicide and homicide rates significantly increased throughout the Vietnam War among young American civilian males who constituted the principal manpower pool for the war. Ironically, men who reached military age after the war were at greatest risk. Years of high combat intensity were not associated with higher suicide or homicide rates than years of low combat intensity. Suicide and homicide rates were correlated at .95, suggesting a common source of pathogenesis. No similar trend was found for motor vehicle death. Broad social forces, not the Vietnam War itself, were responsible for the changes in violent mortality trends that we observed among the birth cohorts of men in our study.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed1999

Young female violent death trends in the general population during the Vietnam era.

Five birth cohorts of young women who became age 20 before, during, and after the Vietnam War were selected for this study of motor vehicle accident, suicide, and homicide between ages 13 and 30. Suicide and homicide increased strongly in succeeding years (1953-1986). Motor vehicle accident rates were affected primarily by age. But age, birth cohort membership, and age x cohort interaction significantly affected suicide and homicide rates, with the 19-24-year-old age range most greatly affected. The correlation between suicide and homicide risk (r = .92) was similar to that for young males (r = .95) and suggested a common source of pathogenesis for both genders.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed1991

Dysphoria in male alcoholics with a history of hallucinations.

This paper examines severity of depressive symptoms, as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory, in chronic alcoholics with and without a history of hallucinations. We found a) alcoholics entering alcohol treatment who have experienced hallucinations during detoxification report higher levels of subjective depression than alcoholics who have never experienced hallucinations, b) the level of subjective depression in alcoholics with a history of hallucinations remains higher at the end of inpatient alcohol treatment than in alcoholics without hallucinations, and c) hallucination is the important variable; alcoholics with blackouts, seizures, and delirium tremens, do not experience higher levels of depression during detoxification. The reporting of a significantly higher level of depressive symptoms by alcoholics with a history of experiencing hallucinations during withdrawal suggests that in some alcoholics, there exists a vulnerability for mood abnormalities which includes a predisposition toward other abnormal mental phenomena such as perceptual distortions.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1986

The use of a multidisciplinary committee to manage the risk of suicide in a VA domiciliary.

The White City Domiciliary in Virginia created a multidisciplinary committee to provide immediate assessment and management of patients with suicidal and violent behavior. The study concludes that the committee effectively participated in crisis evaluation and intervention and has been accepted as a valuable quality assurance clinical and management tool.

Crisis Intervention↗
PubMed1982

MMPI correlates of the degree of generalized impairment based on the Halstead-Reitan Battery.

The relationship between personality, as measured by the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), and neuropsychological status as measured by subtests from the Halstead-Reitan Battery was explored for 63 male veterans. Multiple regression analysis indicates only Ego Strength and Masculinity-Femininity contributed significantly to the regression equation. Results suggest less cognitive impairment is correlated with greater emotional stability. The amount of variance accounted for is small, however, indicating limited clinical significance.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Personality organization as an aspect of back pain in a medical setting.

The MMPI profiles of 74 low back pain patients who had previously been classified as "functional,""organic," or "mixed" were sorted into six profile groups. The six profile groups were those used by Pichot, Perse, Lekous, Dureau, Perez, and Rychewaert (1972); denial, "conversion V" without defensiveness, "conversion V" with defensiveness, depressed/anxious, psychotic and normal. Results indicate that all six profile types are well represented in the low back pain group. Evidence is also presented which shows that each of the pathological MMPI profile types examined across "functional," "organic," and "mixed" classification is significantly more elevated than a normal profile group on two scales (Lb, DOR) designed to measure functional aspects of pain. Pathological MMPI profile groups did not differ significantly from each other on the "functional" pain scales. The data presented in this study point to the relationship of various forms of psychopathology with "functional pain." The findings of this study would not support a homogeneous "pain personality" for low back pain patients. However, combined "conversion V" profiles accounted for 58% of the "functional" group, 45% of the "mixed" group and 35% of the "organic" group.

Adult↗