Biomedical subjects

Margot Verschuur

Publications and source records attributed to Margot Verschuur.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Testimony method to ameliorate post-traumatic stress symptoms. Community-based intervention study with Mozambican civil war survivors.

BACKGROUND: The effectiveness of the testimony method has not been established in rural communities with survivors of prolonged civil war. AIMS: To examine the effectiveness and feasibility of a testimony method to ameliorate post-traumatic stress symptoms. METHOD: Participants (n=206) belonged to former war zones in Mozambique. They were divided into a case (n=137) and a non-case group (n=69). The case group was randomly divided into an intervention (n=66) and a control group (n=71). Symptoms were measured during baseline assessment, post-intervention and at an 11-month follow-up. RESULTS: Post-intervention measurements demonstrated significant symptom reduction in both the intervention and the control group. No significant differences were found between the intervention and the control group. Follow-up measurements showed sustained lower levels of symptoms in both groups, and some indications of a positive intervention effect in women. CONCLUSIONS: A remarkable drop in symptoms could not be linked directly to the intervention. Feasibility of the intervention was good, but controlling the intervention in a small rural community appeared to be a difficult task to accomplish.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Predictors of fatigue in rescue workers and residents in the aftermath of an aviation disaster: a longitudinal study.

OBJECTIVES: Although medically unexplained physical symptoms such as fatigue are frequently observed after exposure to trauma, the vast majority of health outcomes studies in trauma and disaster research relates to the psychological and psychiatric problems met by victims. The objectives of this study were to investigate the prevalence of (persistent) fatigue in the aftermath of a disaster and to analyze the predictive value of sociodemographic and various health-related variables for fatigue among both rescue workers and residents. METHODS: A total of 1951 rescue workers and 753 residents involved in the Bijlmermeer aviation disaster participated in this study. Follow-up data were gathered in 70% of randomly selected rescue workers and 53% of the residents. Multiple regression analyses, multivariate logistic regression analyses, and crosslagged panel analyses examined sociodemographic variables and self-report measures for psychopathology, posttraumatic stress reactions, quality of life, somatosensory amplification, health anxiety, and tendency to be reassured by a physician as predictors of fatigue at baseline and fatigue from baseline to 13 to 28 months follow up. RESULTS: Elevated levels of fatigue are common after involvement in a disaster in rescue workers (20.6%) and residents (45.4%). Higher levels of psychopathology, lower quality of life, and the tendency to be less reassured were multivariate predictors of both elevated and persistent fatigue. Tendency to be reassured was the most important causal factor for fatigue. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that early identification, adequate reassurance, and treatment of individuals at risk may be worthwhile to prevent chronic fatigue.

Accidents, Aviation↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Anxiety sensitivity profile: dimensional structure and relationship with temperament and character.

BACKGROUND: Anxiety sensitivity (AS), the belief that bodily sensations have harmful consequences, is a reliable predictor of panic attacks in both clinical and nonclinical populations. Recently, a new measure of AS has been proposed. The AS profile (ASP) was designed to be a more comprehensive measure of AS, and to be more suitable for the measurement of different AS dimensions. Preliminary evidence (college student sample) suggests that the ASP has 4 dimensions. In the present study, the dimensional structure of the ASP was further investigated, as well as its relationship with temperament and character traits. METHODS: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of ASP scores in two large samples of psychiatric outpatients and nonclinical controls (combined n = 742). Correlations and partial correlations of ASP with temperament and character. RESULTS: Exploratory factor analysis yielded a single AS factor. However, confirmatory factor analysis showed that the 6-dimensional structure, as Taylor and Cox had originally intended it, might be a defendable solution. However, the number of items is much too high, with many subscales consisting of semantic clusters. ASP scores were found to be weakly related to the temperament dimension harm avoidance, corroborating earlier findings that were not statistically significant because of small sample sizes. CONCLUSIONS: The ASP may be shortened from 60 to 24 items without loss of reliability or content. Future studies using challenge paradigms and studies with general hospital patients may further investigate the usefulness of a shortened version of the ASP.

Adult↗