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Biomedical subjects

L Pankratz

Publications and source records attributed to L Pankratz.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

The identification and management of drug-seeking behavior in a medical center.

We describe the development of a quality assurance program that monitors prescription medication misuse in a medical setting. The program focuses on patient activities that influence physician prescribing of abusable medications. Seven defining criteria have been developed to judge the presence of drug seeking by patients. When appropriate, a drug-seeking label is attached to the patient's chart and the hospital computer information system. The warning informs the physician and protects the patient from excessive medications.

Academic Medical Centers

[A test of symptom validity in assessing functional symptoms].

Symptom Validity Testing was developed to evaluate complaints of sensory deficits. The assessment is based on the inability of patients to perceive a sensory signal. Subjects must guess the signal using the model of coin flipping (head or tail). The signals are presented randomized in an equal number of alternatives. A 50-percent hit-rate for enough trials is expected in a true sensory deficit. Deceptive patients are expected to perform a hit-rate below the probabilities of chance.

Adult

Neuropsychological evidence of a factitious memory complaint.

The authors describe a patient who complained of a severe memory loss. Information gathered from the history, interview, and testing suggested malingering. The patient was then assessed by a strategy called Symptom Validity Testing. Her score was statistically worse than chance, which provided compelling evidence that she was faking bad.

Amnesia

Cerebral dysfunction in the Munchausen syndrome.

Brain dysfunction has been noted Munchausen syndrome patients but rarely explored. We describe five Munchausen syndrome patients who all appeared intellectually intact because of their excellent verbal skills. However, formal neuropsychological assessment testing revealed deficits in conceptual organization, management of complex information, and judgement. We suggest that subtle but important neuropsychological impairment may contribute significantly to the aberrant behavior of Munchausen syndrome patients. Typical Munchausen behaviors such as irascibility, the desperate search for care, and pseudologia fantastica, may be understood as solutions to problems created by brain damage.

Adolescent

The antecedents of anger in a sample of college students.

Eighty-three college students were surveyed in an attempt to identify the situations that elicit anger or a loss of temper. The 356 responses were sorted into seven rational categories with substantial interrater reliability. There were no significant sex differences; however, there were more antecedents reported for anger than for loss of temper. On a self-rating scale a high percent of Ss gave a benign report on the frequency of their anger arousal and loss of temper. However, the intensity of anger was reported as greater than that of others by 32% of the males and 20% of the females.

Aggression

Assessing the psychosocial environment of halfway houses for the retarded.

The Community-Oriented Programs Environment Scale (COPES) was used to assess the psychosocial environment of two halfway houses for the mentally retarded. Residents of the houses were individually asked each question and the staff completed the same scale. Results showed general agreement between staff and residents, suggesting that the retarded were adequately able to describe their treatment program. The results were meaningfully graphed on the existing norms for the mentally disturbed.

Adolescent