Biomedical subjects

Mary McLoughlin

Publications and source records attributed to Mary McLoughlin.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2002

Study of Internet use by customers of a large French store for computers.

The objective of this work was to study the relation to the Internet of subjects who own a computer and who use it for professional or personal reasons. We interviewed 150 customers of the biggest French store that specializes in computers. Each day, the mean of duration for connecting time was 6.2 h (SD = 4). Customers were connected 3.7 h (SD = 3.3) between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., 1.8 h (SD = 1.6) between 6:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., and 0.5 hours at night (SD = 1.3). Men were more often connected between 6:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. We found a negative correlation between age and duration of connection to internet. Age was negatively correlated to the time of connection between 6:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. and between 11:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. The number of days of holidays was negatively correlated to total time of connection (p < 0.001) and to connection between 6:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. (p = 0.04). No correlation was found between the time spent watching television or speaking on a cellular phone and parameters of Internet use. High consumers of games are connected 3.4 h every evening and 1.2 h each night. They spend, in addition, 30 min each day connected to virtual casinos. The typical high consumer of the Internet is young and interested in games on-line, he takes fewer days of holiday than others, and he sends and receives more e-mails than other computer users.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Impulse control disorders and depression.

This study assessed the frequency of impulse control disorders (ICDs) and their association with bulimia, compulsive buying, and suicide attempts in a population of depressed inpatients. We investigated ICDs using the Minnesota Impulsive Disorders Interview. Patients answered the Zuckerman Sensation-Seeking Scale and the Barratt Impulsivity Rating Scale. Among the 31 depressed patients who met criteria for ICD (ICD+ group), we found 18 cases of intermittent explosive disorder, three cases of pathological gambling, four cases of kleptomania, three cases of pyromania, and three cases of trichotillomania. Patients with co-occurring ICDs were significantly younger (mean age = 37.7 versus 42.8 years). Patients with kleptomania had a higher number of previous depressive episodes (5.7 versus 1.3), and patients with pyromania had a higher number of previous depressions (3.3 versus 1.3, p =.01). Bipolar disorders were more frequent in the ICD+ group than in the ICD- group (19% versus 1.3%, p =.002), whereas antisocial personality was not (3% versus 1%, p = ns). Bulimia (42% versus 10.5%, p =.005) and compulsive buying (51% versus 22%, p =.006) were significantly more frequent in the ICD+ group. Patients from the ICD+ group had higher scores of motor impulsivity assessed with the Barratt Impulsivity rating scale (p =.01).

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Psychiatric disorders among patients admitted to a French medical emergency service.

OBJECTIVE: The authors assessed the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among a population of patients examined in the emergency service of a French general hospital. They compared patients with and without psychiatric disorders. They also compared patients where the primary motive of emergency was psychiatric to those whose psychiatric disorders were secondarily diagnosed by a systematic assessment. METHOD: Five hundred consecutive patients admitted to the emergency service of Bichat Claude Bernard Hospital (Paris, France) were interviewed with standardized questionnaires. Demographic details were collected along with information on current and past contacts with emergencies and psychiatric services. Psychiatric disorders were identified using a structured psychiatric interview, the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). Domestic violence was identified with a specific checklist validated for this purpose. RESULTS: Prevalence of psychiatric disorders was 38% (189 patients). Forty (8%) patients were primary psychiatric cases referred to the emergency department for psychiatric reasons, while 149 (30%) were secondary psychiatric cases, as revealed by a systematic assessment of their mental state. Psychiatric patients, primary or secondary, were more often homeless (13.6% vs.1.95%). They had been more often referred to the emergency department after an aggressive (7.4% vs.3.5%) or violent behavior (5.8% vs.0.9%) and less often after an accident (8.4% vs.14.3%). Psychiatric patients were more often examined after an episode of domestic violence (21.7% vs. 6.8%). Psychiatric diagnoses, according to the DSM-IV criteria, were depression (80 cases), generalized anxiety disorder (34 cases) acute alcohol intoxication (21 cases), alcohol dependence (20 cases), schizophrenia (16 cases), posttraumatic stress disorder (14 cases), drug abuse (4 cases), agoraphobia (4 cases), alcohol abuse (3 cases), anorexia nervosa (3 cases), mania (2 cases) and obsessive compulsive disorder (2 cases). The proportion of psychiatric diagnoses was equivalent in primary and secondary psychiatric cases except for schizophrenia (more often a primary demand for psychiatric help) and acute alcohol intoxication (more often revealed by a systematic assessment of the mental state). CONCLUSION: Thirty-eight percent of the patients examined in a French emergency service presented with psychiatric disorders. The majority of the patients (78%) were not referred to the emergency service for psychiatric reasons. Patients seen in an emergency service should thus be identified as a population at risk for psychiatric disorders whatever their reason for utilizing this service.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Alcohol dependence among elderly French inpatients.

OBJECTIVE/METHODS: The authors compared groups of heavier and lighter drinkers in a geriatric hospital inpatient unit in France, using questionnaire measures of alcohol dependence, sociodemographic characteristics, and cognitive status. RESULTS: Alcohol consumption is more frequent in men than in women; 9% of the geriatric patients (3% of women and 18% of men) show symptoms of alcohol dependence. Alcohol dependence is also associated with benzodiazepine treatment and nicotine dependence. CONCLUSION: Elderly male patients hospitalized in the geriatric unit and receiving benzodiazepines should thus be identified as a population at risk for alcohol dependence, and medical practitioners should be alert to the possibility of overprescribing benzodiazepines past the acute withdrawal stage.

Aged↗