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Biomedical subjects

R D Huestis

Publications and source records attributed to R D Huestis.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Outcome after partial-hospital treatment of severely disturbed adolescents.

Results of a follow-up study of 50 adolescents treated in a day-hospital program are reported. The program admits seriously disturbed adolescents, over two-thirds with a personality diagnosis. Patients are treated in the day hospital for an average of 3 to 9 months. Outcome results are two-thirds adaptive outcome and one-third poor outcome as measured on a level of function scale in the areas of peer and social functioning, occupational functioning, and family relationships. Variables that were significantly related to outcome were significant relationships to peers and staff at discharge, diagnosis, learning disabilities, age at admission, family substance abuse, and type of discharge. These findings are explained in the context of the treatment philosophy.

Adolescent↗

Megavitamins for minimal brain dysfunction. A placebo-controlled study.

Preliminary to a stimulant comparison study, 31 children with minimal brain dysfunction randomly received either placebo or a megavitamin combination. During a two-week trial, only two children responded so well that stiumlants were not considered necessary; both were in the placebo group. Change scores from pretest to posttest on four blind ratings by teachers and parents did not show a significant difference between the placebo and vitamin groups.

Ascorbic Acid↗

Levoamphetamine vs dextroamphetamine in minimal brain dysfunction. Replication, time response, and differential effect by diagnostic group and family rating.

Double-blind crossover randomized Latin square comparison of placebo, dextroamphetamine, and levoamphetamine in 31 consecutively diagnosed children with minimal brain dysfunction (MBD) replicated a smaller nonrandom study. Both isomers showed significantly more benefit than placebo but were not significantly different from each other. Dextroamphetamine showed a nonsignificant trend of superiority over levoamphetamine. Of 25 subjects who responded well to drugs, three responded only to levoamphetamine, five only to dextroamphetamine, and 17 to both. This study seems to confirm the efficacy of levoamphetamine in MBD. An unsocialized aggressive subgroup (308.4) showed a nonsignificant trend for levoamphetamine superiority, in contrast to the hyperkinetic (308.0) and overanxious (308.2) subgroups. Those who responded best to levoamphetamine tended (not significantly) to be from poorer functioning families. Parents' ratings, but not teachers' or psychiatrists' ratings, showed significant placebo effect.

Amphetamine↗

Caffeine versus methylphenidate and d-amphetamine in minimal brain dysfunction: a double-blind comparison.

The authors compared the efficacy of caffeine, methylphenidate, and d-amphetamine in children with minimal brain dysfunction using a double-blind crossover design. The slight improvement with caffeine was not significantly better than placebo. Both prescription drugs resulted in significant improvement and were significantly superior to caffeine. The authors suggest that the discrepancy between these results and an earlier, more optimistic report mat stem from the use in this study of pure caffeine rather than whole coffee.

Amphetamine↗