Biomedical subjects

M E Geisser

Publications and source records attributed to M E Geisser.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1992

Relationship of MMPI cluster type, pain coping strategy, and treatment outcome.

The purposes of the present study of chronic pain patients were to (a) assess whether cognitive and behavioral coping style is related to personality factors, (b) assess how coping styles differ across personality types, and (c) assess how outpatient interdisciplinary intervention affects the coping styles of various personality types. Four MMPI clusters (Depression/Pathological, V-type, Marginal Depression, and Marginal V-type) were derived using a hierarchical clustering procedure. Seventy subjects also completed the Coping Strategies Questionnaire before and after a 3-week outpatient pain management program. Pretreatment analyses indicated the Depression/Pathological and Marginal Depression groups used diverting attention less than either V-type group. The V-type group reported using praying/hoping significantly more than either of the marginal groups. At posttreatment the Depression/Pathological group used catastrophizing significantly more than either of the marginal groups. Results of pre-post analyses indicated that the Depression/Pathological group increased their use of diverting attention, reinterpreting pain sensations, and ignoring pain sensations, while decreasing catastrophizing. The V-type group increased their use of reinterpreting pain sensations, while decreasing praying/hoping and catastrophizing. Neither of the Marginal subtypes showed significant pre-post changes in coping strategies. These results suggest that different personality types use different pain coping strategies prior to multidisciplinary treatment. Groups showing more severe psychological distress, perhaps related to an underlying personality disorder, displayed greater changes in coping strategies with treatment, but remained more dysfunctional after treatment. These findings suggest that the alteration of coping strategies may be an important treatment effect needing more individualization to maximize treatment response.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1991

Reliability and validity of the Florida Sexual History Questionnaire.

The Florida Sexual History Questionnaire (FSHQ) is a brief 20-item questionnaire designed to assess male sexual dysfunction. The validity and reliability of the scale were examined in 33 diabetic impotent males and 58 nondiabetic, age-equivalent nonimpotent males. The FSHQ was found to have high internal consistency and split-half reliability and significantly discriminated between nonimpotent and impotent subjects. Among diabetic impotent subjects, some of the test items were correlated significantly with physiological measures of sexual functioning. However, the FSHQ failed to discriminate between diabetics diagnosed as having organic or psychogenic impotence. This latter finding is discussed within the context of recent suggestions that it may not be possible to draw a clear dichotomy between organic and psychogenic impotence.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

The relationship between MMPI cluster membership and diagnostic category in headache patients.

Only one study has examined MMPI cluster profiles in the headache population. The present study expanded on this previous investigation by using a large sample size (N = 485) and a greater number of diagnostic categories. The five MMPI clusters replicated previous findings in the chronic pain literature. These MMPI cluster groups were compared to 5 diagnostic categories (migraine, cluster, post-trauma, tension, mixed). No relationship was found between cluster type and headache diagnosis. While the diagnostic groups were found to differ on measures of pain severity, sex and age, cluster groups did not. It is proposed that MMPI scale types reflect a patient's response to pain and are more likely to be the result of coping resources than headache-related personality style. Future research with additional, non-pain populations and prospective studies is suggested.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Evaluation and treatment of sexual dysfunction in men with diabetes mellitus.

Sexual dysfunction is common among men with Type I and Type II diabetes. Tests of nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT) combined with waking tumescence and questionnaires can more accurately differentiate between primary organic and primary psychogenic impotence. This ability to differentiate the etiology of erectile dysfunction avoids the inappropriate use of penile injections and costly surgical procedures which are unnecessary in treatment of diabetic patients with primary psychogenic impotence. In patients with primary organic impotence, several new treatments are available which result in high patient satisfaction.

Diabetes Complications↗

PubMed1988

Construct validity of the Denman Memory for Human Faces test.

Assessed the validity of the Denman Memory for Human Faces (MHF) subtest employing a clinical sample. Factor analysis with marker variables was employed to establish the nature of the extracted factors. The MHF subtest, WAIS-R Verbal (i.e., Information, Vocabulary, and Digit Span) and Performance (i.e., Block Design and Object Assembly) subtests, the Wechsler Memory Scale Mental Control, Paired Associate Learning, 30-min Logical Memory, and 30-min Visual Reproduction, and Benton's Facial Recognition Test were subjected to a maximum likelihood factoring procedure with Varimax rotation. Four factors were extracted which accounted for 72.7% of the variance. Factor I was perceptual-organization, Factor II was verbal comprehension, Factor III was general memory, and Factor IV was attention-concentration. The MHF subtest achieved a substantial loading (i.e., 0.56) on the general memory factor along with Logical Memory (0.54), Visual Reproduction (0.51), and Paired Associate Learning (0.71). Clinical applications of the MHF were discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed1986

Alternate form reliability and equivalency of the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test.

Assessed alternate form reliability and equivalency for the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) in a clinical sample. A test-retest, counterbalanced design was utilized with a diagnostically heterogenous group of 85 VA Medical Center patients. The mean test-retest interval was 140 min. Alternate form reliability coefficients were highly significant, all p less than .001, and ranged from .60 to .77. The forms yielded comparable means with differences of less than 1 point on each of the five learning trails and the postinterference (VI) and recognition trials. Total words recalled on trials I through V differed by less than 3 points across forms. From a statistical point of view, when the alternate form was administered second it was slightly more difficult than the original. In the reverse order, the two measures were comparable. Overall, differences between forms lacked clinical significance and the tests were judged to be equivalent measures.

Adult↗

PubMed1986

Validity and diagnostic accuracy of an alternate form of the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test.

The diagnostic validity of an alternate form of the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) is investigated. Subjects were 73 inpatients from a VA Medical Center who were classified as having either intact (n = 41) or impaired (n = 32) memory functions. Employing a counterbalanced design, both groups were administered the standard (Form A) and alternate (Form C) forms of the AVLT. Means for the learning trials, trial VI and the recognition procedure were calculated for the intact and memory-impaired subjects and contrasted for each test. Results suggested that Form C discriminated groups at a level comparable to that of Form A. This impression was confirmed by separate stepwise discriminant analyses for Form A and Form C that yielded identical hit-rates (i.e., 75.3%) in terms of identifying subjects as memory-intact or memory-impaired. These findings suggested that Form C may be used for the assessment of persons with verbal mnemonic deficits with the same degree of confidence that has been attributed to Form A.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1985

Test-retest stability of the WAIS-R in a clinical sample.

This study assessed WAIS-R test-retest stability for a sample of 21 psychiatric and neurological patients. The test-retest interval ranged from 2 weeks to 144 weeks, with a mean of 38 weeks. Subtest stability coefficients were highly significant; only Similarities, r(19) = .45, p less than .05, fell below a correlation of .74. The Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQs yielded highly significant stability coefficients (.79, .88, and .86). Nevertheless, the range of gain or loss for any single individual was comparatively large. On the Full Scale IQ, 18 of 21 (86%) subjects showed changes of 3 points or more, and 8 of 21 (38%) actually changed IQ classifications. Gain or loss in total score was unrelated to initial level of brightness on the Full Scale, age at initial testing, or days between examinations. Conversely, gain or loss on the Full Scale was associated strongly with years of education, r(19) = .55, p less than .01. When the sample was divided into brain-damaged and psychiatric subgroups, the difference in retest gain on the Full Scale IQ was nonsignificant.

Brain Damage, Chronic↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Pain and anxiety during burn dressing changes: concordance between patients' and nurses' ratings and relation to medication administration and patient variables.

Few studies have examined the various factors related to pain during burn dressing changes. Patients' and nurses' ratings of pain and tension were obtained during 107 burn dressing changes among 11 burned patients. As found in previous studies, there was little concordance between nurses' and patients' ratings. Both nurses' and patients' ratings of pain were positively related to amount of analgesic medications administered, whereas amounts were inversely related to patients' reports of pain in a subsample of dressing changes in which anxiolytics were administered. However, these relationships failed to reach statistical significance. Multiple regression analyses revealed that ratings of tension during the procedure were significantly related to overall and worst pain, whereas amount of analgesics and anxiolytics given, postburn day, and total body surface area were not. Exploratory correlations suggested that ability to accurately discriminate between painful episodes, social desirability, and trait anxiety may be factors that significantly influence self-report of pain and might be worthwhile to study more systematically in the future. Implications for burn pain control and suggestions for future research are presented.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Use of the Florida Sexual History Questionnaire to differentiate primary organic from primary psychogenic impotence.

A recent study demonstrated the Florida Sexual History Questionnaire (FSHQ) is reliable and valid when used to discriminate impotent from nonimpotent men. This study examined the ability of the FSHQ to discriminate between men with primary psychogenic and primary organic impotence in a sample of impotent diabetics and a larger group of impotent men. The hit rate in the diabetic sample was 81% using an eight-item discriminant function, and 70% using the total score. Hit rates in the larger sample were significant but lower (73% and 66%). The results suggest that the FSHQ has concurrent validity in terms of discriminating primary organic from primary psychogenic impotence.

Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2↗