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Biomedical subjects

J Sheikh

Publications and source records attributed to J Sheikh.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

How "blind" are double-blind studies?

Psychopharmacological studies usually attempt to eliminate "nonspecific" influences on outcome by double-blind designs. In a randomized, double-blind comparison of alprazolam, imipramine, and placebo, the great majority of panic disorder patients (N = 59) and their physicians were able to rate accurately whether active drug or placebo had been given. Moreover, physicians could distinguish between the two types of active drugs. Inasmuch as correct rating was possible halfway through treatment, concerns about the internal validity of the double-blind strategy arise.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Adherence and medication instructions. Review and recommendations.

Prescription medication nonadherence among the elderly is a serious medical problem. Nonadherence is primarily caused by poor communication between health professionals and elderly patients. More specifically, nonadherence often reflects the inability of patients to understand and remember their medication instructions. Therefore, adherence can be increased by designing instructions that enable elders to easily construct a clear and simple mental model of how to take their medication. Inexpensive microcomputer-based hardware and software makes it possible for pharmacists to provide elderly patients with effective instructions.

Aged↗
PubMed1988

Response to memory training and individual differences in verbal intelligence and state anxiety.

Prior studies have documented the effectiveness of several types of memory training for the elderly with normal age-related memory losses. Despite these positive results, there is substantial variability of individual response to treatment. The authors describe attributes of individuals most likely to benefit from two types of memory training. They found that for 40 elderly volunteers performance on the WAIS vocabulary subscale correlated with response to a treatment combining mnemonics and verbal elaboration techniques and scores on the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory correlated with response to a treatment combining mnemonics and relaxation techniques.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

Lactate infusions and panic attacks: do patients and controls respond differently?

Ten patients with panic disorder or agoraphobia with panic attacks and 10 normal controls received infusions of normal saline (placebo) and sodium lactate in a single-blind design. The time course of changes in the dependent variables was closely monitored, and expectancy biases and demand characteristics were minimized. Lactate increased self-reported anxiety and heart rate equally in patients and controls. The only variables showing statistically different responses between the groups were systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Overall, in both groups, the effects of lactate were quite similar to states of natural panic or anxiety for both self-report measures and heart rate. Patients had a tendency to endorse somatic symptoms indiscriminately. Our data do not support response to lactate as a biological marker of proneness to panic attacks.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Ambulatory heart rate changes in patients with panic attacks.

Of 33 "panic" attacks reported by patients wearing an ambulatory solid-state heart rate/activity monitor for 6 days, 19 (58%) occurred at heart rates disproportionate to activity levels and different enough from surrounding heart rates to indicate a distinct physiologic state. Intense panic attacks with three or more symptoms were the most readily identified. ECG monitoring found the elevated heart rates to be sinus tachycardias. Heart rate elevation did not occur during anticipatory anxiety episodes. Ambulatory heart rate recordings confirm the presence of major physiologic changes during self-reported panic attacks.

Adolescent↗