Biomedical subjects

R G Knight

Publications and source records attributed to R G Knight.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1997

Psychometric properties of the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) in a sample of women in middle life.

The Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was completed by 675 women taking part in a longitudinal investigation of health-related issues. The data were submitted to confirmatory factor analysis using LISREL 7 and a 4-factor model was found to fit the data moderately well. A second-order depression factor was also identified. The results provide support for the construct validity of the total and subscale scores from this measure. The scale was found to have good reliability. Evidence was found that scores on the subscale measuring somatic features of depression may be inflated in women who have experienced a chronic health problem in the past 12 months.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Psychosocial consequences of caring for a spouse with multiple sclerosis.

Fifty-five spousal caregivers of persons with multiple sclerosis completed a questionnaire assessing the stress associated with caregiving. They were found to experience a range of negative effects, similar to those reported by other groups of carers of persons with degenerative neurological diseases. The behaviors causing most distress to the carers were associated with motor problems, sudden mood changes, partner upsetting other people, incontinence and pain. Overall, wives had higher burden scores than husbands. This was accounted for primarily by their higher levels of physical distress such as tiredness. Following the stress-appraisal-coping model of Lazarus and Folkman (1984) it was hypothesized that individual differences in burden would be accounted for primarily by the carers' appraisal of the symptoms, perceived social support, and satisfaction with coping. Regression analyses supported the importance of satisfaction with coping and social support as predictors of perceived burden. In addition, life satisfaction was found to be predicted by burden independently of other predictors.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

The Profile of Functional Impairment in Communication (PFIC): a measure of communication impairment for clinical use.

This article describes the construction of the Profile of Functional Impairment in Communication (PFIC), a scale designed for the assessment of communication impairments following traumatic brain injury. The measure comprises 10 feature summary scales, assessing severity of impairment, and 84 specific behaviour items, assessing the frequency of specific communication impairments. To assess the psychometric properties of the scale, videotaped dyadic social interactions of 20 patients with traumatic brain injury were rated by eight trained raters. The feature summary scales were found to have acceptable inter-rater reliabilities, and high concurrent validity and internal consistency. Four case descriptions are presented to illustrate the clinical application of the PFIC. It is concluded that the PFIC is a useful measure for the identification of specific communication impairments in clinical practice.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1994

Priming deficits in patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type.

In a study that replicated the procedures used by Salmon et al. (1988), the effect on stem completion performance of two different semantic orientation tasks has been assessed in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Previously reported findings of impairment in repetition priming in Alzheimer patients were confirmed. Performance was not affected by the nature of the orientation task. No significant correlations were found between explicit and implicit memory tests. The results are discussed in the context of a hypothesized parallel decline in explicit and implicit memory systems.

Aged↗

PubMed1994

Differential relationships between stress and disease activity for immunologically distinct subgroups of people with rheumatoid arthritis.

Immunologically distinct subgroups of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA)--those with the autoantibody rheumatoid factor (seropositive RA) and those without (seronegative RA)--were compared on a variety of clinical and self-report measures in a consecutive series of women with disease of 7 years' or less duration. The groups were comparable on clinical, pain, functional, and psychosocial variables. However, the seronegative RA group reported elevated levels of preonset negative life event stress. Postonset life event stress and disease activity were significantly correlated for the seronegative RA group, but not for the seropositive RA group. Results suggest that stress factors may be more important in the etiology and maintenance of seronegative RA and that the seronegative RA group may possibly derive particular benefit from psychological techniques to enhance stress management skills.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

Neuropsychological impairment and return to work following severe closed head injury: implications for clinical management.

AIMS: To study the rate and timing of return to work following severe closed head injury, and to compare the neuropsychological functioning of patients who successfully return to work with that of patients who fail to return to work. METHODS: The vocational status, level of cognitive functioning and personality functioning of a consecutive series of 66 patients who survived severe closed head injury was assessed between six months and three years postinjury. The level of cognitive and personality functioning of patients who returned to work were compared with that of patients who failed to return to work. RESULTS: Twenty five percent of patients failed to return to work, and a further 17% returned to work under special conditions of employment. Failure to return to work was related to the degree of neuropsychological impairment (cognitive deficit and adverse personality change), injury severity (duration of posttraumatic amnesia), and age. Multiple regression analysis found the total number of neuropsychological symptoms to be the strongest predictor of the patients' return to work. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that neuropsychological symptoms are the main mechanism through which severe brain injury affects the ability to return to work. It is recommended that vocational rehabilitation of severe closed head injury patients be based on a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

Course of insight disorder and emotional dysfunction following closed head injury: a controlled cross-sectional follow-up study.

Closed-head injury (CHI) patients at either 6 months (n = 24), 1 year (n = 19), or 2 to 3 years (n = 23) postinjury, were compared with a group of orthopedic control (OC) patients (n = 27). CHI patients assessed at 6 months postinjury experienced a Post-Traumatic Insight Disorder, in which they underreported the severity of their behavioural impairments. CHI patients in the 1 year and 2 to 3 year follow-up groups evidenced both greater insight about their level of behavioural impairment, and higher levels of emotional dysfunction. These findings suggested that the return of insight is associated with increased risk for emotional dysfunction. Implications of these findings for assessment and treatment of closed-head injury patients are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

A self-report articular index: relationship to variations in mood and disease activity measures.

Self-report can provide an inexpensive method for monitoring disease activity or treatment response in RA, but may be affected by confounding variables such as the patient's mood. The relationship of a self-report articular index (AI) to other relevant parameters was assessed from data gathered at approximately monthly intervals from 16 women with RA. Statistical analysis showed that the AI covaried most strongly with other measures of disease activity and functional disability, while mood variables and ESR covaried separately. These results indicated that responses on the self-report AI paralleled disease activity, and were not merely an artifact of variations in the patient's mood.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

The role of alcohol-related expectancies in the prediction of drinking behaviour in a simulated social interaction.

This study investigated the relationship between socially-relevant alcohol-related beliefs and drinking behaviour in a laboratory-based study. Ninety male subjects were told they would be videotaped while completing the Simulated Social Interaction Test; they were then assigned to one of three conditions. In the first, alcohol consumption prior to the interaction was optional, in the second, a standard dose was administered, and in the third, no alcohol was offered. The outcome measures included drinking behaviour and rated level of social skill. In the optional condition, beliefs that alcohol would reduce anxiety in social situations and enhance social competence predicted amount consumed. The decision to continue drinking after the compulsory dose was predicted by anxiety level. In the no alcohol condition, rated social skill was negatively correlated with the beliefs that alcohol reduces tension and reduces fear of negative evaluation. Results are discussed with reference to social learning approaches to understanding drinking behaviour.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

First impressions count: a controlled investigation of social skill following closed head injury.

This study examined social skills in 14 closed head injured (CHI) patients who were assessed at four months post-injury and compared with 19 orthopaedic control (OC) patients. Social skills deficits were found to be more common in the CHI patients, of whom over half were classified as socially unskilled. CHI patients displayed poorer social skills in the earlier (but not later) part of an extended social interaction, indicating that they make a poor first impression. It is suggested that poor initial impression formation skills may be one reason why CHI patients fail to establish and maintain friendships. Implications of these findings for patient management are discussed. Close others of CHI patients reported higher levels of mood disturbance. Higher levels of close other hostility were associated with social skills deficits in CHI patients.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

Behavioral assessment of social competence following severe head injury.

Eighteen community-dwelling adults who had suffered a very severe closed-head injury more than 18 months previously and required long-term rehabilitative support were compared with a closely matched control group on a number of behavioral measures of skill during social interaction. Results showed that during social interactions the head-injured patients exhibited impaired communication skills. They appeared disinterested, and their speech was characterized as lacking in fluency and clarity due to their difficulty in finding appropriate words, use of inappropriate expressions and inability to express ideas clearly. Attempts to find a relationship between the patients' cognitive deficits and their impaired communication skills were unsuccessful. It is suggested that the often reported poor social adjustment of some head-injured patients is in part related to their inappropriate behavior during social interactions. This is particularly manifest in their poor language skills and speech delivery style.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Vancomycin susceptibility and identification of motile enterococci.

Thirty-seven clinical isolates of Enterococcus gallinarum and Enterococcus casseliflavus and three type or reference strains of the species were studied with respect to vancomycin susceptibility and key identification characteristics. With the exception of one clinical isolate of E. casseliflavus (MIC, 4 micrograms/ml), MICs of vancomycin were 8 to 32 micrograms/ml. The type strain of E. gallinarum, NCDO 2313, and five of the clinical isolates had similar penicillin-binding protein profiles and shared 90 to 100% DNA homology. Two isolates, identified as E. gallinarum by conventional tests, were shown to be non-pigment-producing E. casseliflavus on the basis of penicillin-binding protein profile and DNA homology. The type and reference strains of E. casseliflavus, ATCC 25788 and ATCC 25789, were nonmotile in our experiments. However, both shared 65 to 100% DNA homology with each other and with five clinical isolates of E. casseliflavus. These data suggest that the MICs of vancomycin observed for strains of E. gallinarum and E. casseliflavus are higher than those usually associated with other enterococci and may be a common property of these species. Additionally, pigment production and motility may occasionally be misleading criteria for definitive identification of these organisms.

Bacterial Proteins↗

PubMed1991

Long-term cognitive deficits in patients after surgery on aneurysms of the anterior communicating artery.

The long term recovery of a series of 27 patients who had undergone rupture and repair of an aneurysm of the anterior communicating artery was assessed using a number of neuropsychological measures. Testing took place 12 to 84 months post surgery. On the basis of the results from tests of intellect, memory, and conceptual learning, three subgroups of patients were identified: those with persuasive cognitive defects, those with evidence of residual frontal lobe damage and those who showed no evidence of dysfunction. The occurrence of cerebral vasospasm was the most consistent predictor of long term cognitive deficit.

Adult↗

PubMed1990

Direct and indirect memory performance in patients with senile dementia.

The performance of patients with a presumptive clinical diagnosis of Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer's Type was compared to that of a group of normal elderly on several memory and neuropsychological tasks. The patients were impaired on tasks of free and cued recall, but exhibited normal performance on a word-completion procedure similar to that used by Graf et al. (1984). Reasons for the discrepancy between these findings and those from related research which reports impairment of word completion in patients with Alzheimer's Disease are discussed. Of particular interest is the role the orientating task plays in word-completion performance.

Aged↗

PubMed1990

The tension reduction hypothesis revisited: an alcohol expectancy perspective.

The tension reduction hypothesis has been historically and cross-culturally a predominant explanation of alcohol's effects. However, its validation has been inconsistent. One speculative reason for this inconsistency is a failure to control for preheld alcohol expectancies. Past research may have confounded results due to studying populations mixed regarding their expectations of alcohol's tension reducing effects. Only two studies could be found which have comprehensively attempted to control for tension reduction expectancies, both supporting a modified tension reduction hypothesis which does not offer tension reduction as the only explanation of drinking behaviour. The interaction of pharmacology, expectancy, gender role and situation suggest that tension reduction is of major importance in understanding the drinking of many, but not all, individuals. This is consistent with recent 'metatheories' of alcohol use which emphasize the complexity and multiplicity of alcohol's effects. Future theoretical and clinical implications of the revised tension reduction hypothesis and expectancies are briefly discussed.

Alcohol Drinking↗

PubMed1990

A self-report articular index measure of arthritic activity: investigations of reliability, validity and sensitivity.

A self-report measure of rheumatoid arthritic activity developed from the articular index described by Thompson, Silman, Kirwan, and Currey (1987), was tested for reliability, validity, and sensitivity to therapeutic change. Concurrent validity was demonstrated by a significant correlation, (ICC = 0.83) between the self-report measure and a standard Thompson index completed by a rheumatologist. Test-retest reliability was demonstrated by significant correlations (ICC = 0.88, ICC = 0.77) between repeated administrations of the self-report form in 2 independent samples. The self-report measure demonstrated sensitivity to therapeutic change when completed by patients both before and after intraarticular corticosteroid injection. The rheumatologist's index correlated significantly with C-reactive protein but the self-report form did not.

Adult↗

PubMed1989

Social interaction and speed of information processing following very severe head-injury.

Eighteen adults who had suffered a very severe closed head-injury more than 18 months previously and required long-term rehabilitative support were compared with a closely matched control group. Unlike previous studies, which have reported negative personality change involving an increase in aversive behaviour, our behavioural observation data suggest that a global reduction in behavioural productivity, or negative symptomatology, characterizes social interaction by this group. This resulted in their being judged less socially skilled, less likeable and less interesting, and thus less reinforcing to interact with. Speed of information processing was specifically impaired for the closed head-injury group, although this did not correlate with global behavioural ratings of social interaction behaviour. It is suggested that low behavioural productivity may be associated with family burden, and that the low quantity of social interaction experienced by severely head-injured adults may reflect the unreinforcing nature of their interactions.

Adult↗

PubMed1988

Some normative, reliability, and factor analytic data for the revised UCLA Loneliness Scale.

Normative statistics are provided for the UCLA Loneliness Scale based on the results of a sample of 978 adult subjects collected during a general population health survey. Factor analysis of the data revealed that the scale had a two factor structure; positively worded items loaded on one factor and negatively worded items on the other. Results from the factor analysis were used to construct two equivalent 10-item short forms of the scale. Previous findings that the scale is highly reliable were confirmed.

Adolescent↗