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Biomedical subjects

T Dammen

Publications and source records attributed to T Dammen.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

The relationship between cognitions and panic attack intensity.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between panic attack intensity, catastrophic belief and cognitions. METHOD: Data from 540 panic diaries were collected from 42 patients with panic disorder with agoraphobia. RESULTS: When we controlled for individual variation, effects of treatment and number of symptoms, catastrophic belief contributed significantly to more intense panic attacks (r2 change = 0.10, P<0.0001). There were no significant differences in panic attack intensity between primary and secondary cognitions. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that catastrophic belief is a reliable predictor of panic attack intensity.

Adult↗

The Illness Attitude Scales in chest pain patients: a study of psychometric properties.

The main aim of the study was to assess the factorial structure of the Illness Attitude Scales (IAS). The study population comprised 199 patients referred to cardiological out-patient investigation because of chest pain. The factor analysis revealed three factors of the IAS. Accordingly, we found three subscales, interpreted as health anxiety (HA), illness behavior (IB), and health habits (HH). The internal consistency of the subscales, measured by Cronbach's alpha coefficient, were 0.92, 0.80, and 0.49, respectively. The HA and IB scores were significantly intercorrelated (r = 0.39, p < 0.001), but HH was not significantly correlated with either HA or IB. The HA and IB subscales discriminated between patients with and without panic disorder. The results support previous findings, namely that the IAS comprise two subscales with psychometrically sound properties. Correlational analysis indicated validity of the two subscales. Further studies are needed to confirm the validity.

Attitude to Health↗

Panic disorder in chest pain patients referred for cardiological outpatient investigation.

OBJECTIVES: The aims of the study were to: (i) determine the prevalence of panic disorder (PD) in patients referred to cardiological outpatient clinics for evaluation of chest pain; (ii) compare psychiatric comorbidity, psychological distress, pain characteristics and suicidal ideation in PD and non-PD patients: (iii) compare the prevalence of coronary risk factors and medical comorbidity in PD and non-PD patients; and (iv) describe current PD treatment and need for PD treatment as expressed by PD patients. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study based on psychiatric and cardiological investigation. SETTING: Four cardiological outpatient clinics in Oslo, Norway. SUBJECTS: One-hundred and ninety-nine consecutive patients without known heart disease referred to out-patient clinics for investigation of chest pain. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Psychiatric state diagnosis (axis I); scores on self-assessment rating scales of psychological factors and pain modalities; cardiological diagnosis. RESULTS: Thirty-eight per cent of the patients met criteria for current panic disorder (PD). Panic disorder was associated with psychological distress, comorbid psychiatric disorders, medical disorders and significantly higher prevalence of coronary risk factors (P<0.05). Furthermore. the results suggest that these patients were not identified and appropriately treated for panic disorder prior to cardiological investigation. The results indicate that the patients are positive to screening for psychiatric disorder and communicate a need for treatment early in the investigation process. CONCLUSION: PD commonly occurs in this chest pain population. Thus, there is a need to educate physicians caring for these patients about PD identification and treatment.

Adult↗

The detection of panic disorder in chest pain patients.

The aims of this study were to 1) develop a detection model for recognizing panic disorder (PD), 2) develop a simple questionnaire as a screening instrument for PD detection, and 3) test in an outpatient cardiological chest pain population a detection model for panic disorder previously described by Fleet et al. [20]. Logistic regression analysis was performed to explore factors predictive of panic disorder and to test the cross-cardiological setting constancy of the Fleet model in 199 chest pain patients without previously known heart disease referred to cardiological outpatient investigation of chest pain. The SCL-90 somatization subscale, Agoraphobia Cognitions Questionnaire, chest pain quality, pain localization, and age were the best predictors of the presence of panic disorder. This model correctly classified 78% of the subjects. The sum-score of a three-item questionnaire correctly classified 74% of the subjects, while the previously described model by Fleet et al. correctly classified 73% of the subjects. A detection model and a screening questionnaire are proposed to improve the recognition of PD in this chest pain population. This study partly supports the cross-setting validity of a previously described detection model.

Adult↗

Comparing Personality Diagnostic questionnaire-4+ with Longitudinal, Expert, All Data (LEAD) standard diagnoses in a sample with a high prevalence of axis I and axis II disorders.

A comparison between the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4+ (PDQ-4+) and Longitudinal, Expert, All Data (LEAD) standard diagnoses was made in a sample of 100 patients with a high prevalence of both axis I and axis II disorders. The internal consistency was considered acceptable (alpha >.70) for 3 of 12 PDQ-4+ scales. Diagnostic agreement between the assessment methods was poor for specific personality disorders (PDs). The PDQ-4+ gave many false-positive diagnoses. Changing the diagnostic thresholds only marginally increased the agreement between methods or the diagnostic efficiency of the PDQ-4+. Multiple regression analyses showed that the discrepancies between the methods were strongly associated with the current level of perceived symptoms (SCL-90-R).

Adult↗

Personality profiles in patients referred for chest pain. Investigation with emphasis on panic disorder patients.

Patients (N = 199) referred to cardiac outpatient investigation because of chest pain were assessed with the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire (PDQ-4). Thirty-nine percent scored positive for any personality disorder. Borderline and avoidant personality disorders were found significantly more often in patients with panic disorder (PD) (n = 72) than in patients without PD (12.5% vs. 2.5%, 23.7% vs. 7.7%, respectively). In PD patients, the presence of any personality disorder was significantly associated with higher scores of self-reported anxiety-agoraphobia symptoms, neuroticism, and the presence of suicidal thoughts. These results suggest that personality pathology is important in a subgroup of patients presenting with chest pain and that these patients may require more extensive treatment.

Adolescent↗