Biomedical subjects

Judith Turner

Publications and source records attributed to Judith Turner.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Use of attorneys and appeal filing in the Washington State workers' compensation program: does patient satisfaction matter?

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Specify the frequency with which injured workers in Washington State's compensation system retained an attorney or filed an appeal, and the personal and job-related correlates of these actions. Analyze the relationship between workers' legal actions and their satisfaction in two domains: how well the claim was managed administratively, and how well the worker and claim manager communicated with one another. Characterize the relationship between retaining an attorney and long-term disability. ABSTRACT: Little is known about how often injured workers retain attorneys or file appeals in the workers' compensation system. We conducted a population-based study to examine the frequency of attorney retention and appeal filing in the Washington State workers' compensation program and the factors related to this event. Data for the study were provided by a survey conducted on 804 injured workers who were interviewed an average of 159 days after claim receipt. Attorney retention and appeal filing were examined up to 28 months later. Seven percent of the workers either retained an attorney or filed an appeal. Workers who were less satisfied with claims administration procedures were more likely to retain an attorney or file an appeal (P<0.05). The average length of time from claim receipt to attorney retention (368 days) suggests that retaining an attorney is a correlate rather than a predictor of long-term disability.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

A randomized clinical trial using research diagnostic criteria for temporomandibular disorders-axis II to target clinic cases for a tailored self-care TMD treatment program.

AIMS: To carry out a randomized clinical trial (RCT) contrasting usual conservative treatment of TMD by clinical TMD specialists with a structured self-care intervention, targeted to clinic cases independent of TMD physical diagnosis, who were reporting minimal levels of psychosocial dysfunction; the intervention was delivered by dental hygienists in lieu of usual treatment. METHODS: The Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (RDC/TMD) was used to target subjects who exhibited minimal TMD-related psychosocial interference. Criteria for study inclusion were: (1) self-report of facial and/or masticatory muscle pain discomfort for which usual care was prescribed by the clinic TMD specialist; (2) RDC/TMD Axis II graded scale of chronic pain (GCP) score of 0, I, or II-Low. (3) Age 18 to 70 years. RESULTS: On 1-year follow-up, while both groups showed improvement in all clinical and self-report categories measured, patients in the tailored self-care treatment program compared to usual TMD treatment showed significantly; (a) decreased TMD pain, (b) decreased pain-related interference in activity; (c) reduced number of masticatory muscles painful; (d) fewer additional visits for TMD treatment. Groups were comparable with regard to measures of vertical range of motion. The self-care program was associated with consistent, but non-statistically significant, trends towards lower levels of depression and somatization. Ability to cope with TMD, knowledge concerning TMD and patient satisfaction was significantly enhanced for the self-care group. No participating patients experienced physical or personal adverse effects during the 1-year post-treatment follow-up period. CONCLUSION: Use of RDC/TMD psychosocial assessment criteria can contribute to successful clinical decision-making for the management of TMD.

Adult↗

PubMed1981

Principal dimensions of the pain experience and psychological disturbance in chronic low back pain patients.

The principal dimensions of the pain experience of 102 patients with chronic low back pain were studied and components of the pain experience were compared to pre-treatment measures of emotional disturbance. Responses on the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) were factor analyzed revealing dimensions of the pain experience that seemed to represent sensory, affective, and evaluative aspects. Patients with high scores on the MMPI hypochondriasis scale portrayed their pain as more intense and as high in terms of affective and evaluative descriptors on the MPQ. Other MMPI scales reflecting emotional disturbance (depression, hysteria) were also associated with a more intense description of pain and higher scores on an affective descriptor dimension. The evaluation descriptive dimension was highly related to the overall intensity of the pain experience. Only the affective dimension was related to emotional disturbance separately from the effects of intensity alone.

Adult↗

PubMed1977

Differences between functional versus organic low back pain patients.

There are contradictory findings about whether there are differences in personality and/or amount of emotional disturbance between patients with functional versus organic low back pain. The MMPI scores of 42 back pain patients diagnosed as "organic" were compared with the scores of 37 patients classified as "functional". The functional patients scored significantly higher than the organics on the Hs, Hy, Pd, Sc, Ma, and Si scales. The organics scored significantly higher than the functionals on the K scale. The results confirm the view that certain symptoms of emotional disturbance are more characteristic of patients who have relatively little evidence of physical findings. However, the degree of overlap between groups was high enough to suggest caution in making predictions and diagnoses about functional versus organic pain on individual patients solely on the basis of personality data.

Adult↗