PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

T Glen

Publications and source records attributed to T Glen.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Variation in rates of electroconvulsive therapy use among consultant teams in Edinburgh (1993-1996).

BACKGROUND: Critics of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) have expressed concern about variations in ECT use among consultant teams within the same hospital. The aim was to establish whether or not there was a significant variation in rates of ECT use among consultant teams in the same hospital when in-patient workload was taken into account. METHODS: A computerised database was used to calculate annual and aggregate rates of ECT use by consultant team, expressed as the number of individual in-patients treated per 100 in-patients discharged between 1993 and 1996. RESULTS: The variation in aggregate rates of ECT use varied approximately 18-fold among the 11 general adult psychiatric teams (P<0.001), and twofold among the three sector old-age psychiatric teams (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Substantial variation in the rates of ECT use was confirmed, but only among general adult psychiatric teams. LIMITATIONS: The extent to which findings from one teaching hospital can be generalised was unknown. Possible explanations of the variations were not assessed.

Adult↗

Validity of the Orientation Log, relative to the Galveston Orientation and Amnesia Test.

OBJECTIVE: To establish the validity of the Orientation Log (O-Log) by comparison with the Galveston Orientation and Amnesia Test (GOAT). DESIGN: Correlation of daily measures of orientation. SETTING: Acute rehabilitation hospital. SUBJECTS: Sixty-eight inpatients receiving rehabilitation following traumatic brain injury (TBI). PRIMARY MEASURES: The O-Log and GOAT. RESULTS: There was a significant correlation between the GOAT and O-Log (r = .901, P<.001). A cutoff of 25 on the O-Log was found to be comparable with the 75 cutoff on the GOAT. The scales were equivalent in measuring duration of posttraumatic amnesia. CONCLUSIONS: The O-Log is a valid measure of orientation for people with TBI and offers some advantages in administration over the GOAT.

Adolescent↗

In vitro agonist effects of nociceptin and [Phe(1)psi(CH(2)-NH)Gly(2)]nociceptin(1-13)NH(2) in the mouse and rat colon and the mouse vas deferens.

Nociceptin is an endogenous ligand of the opioid receptor-like (ORL1) receptor, a G-protein coupled receptor with sequence similarities to the opioid receptors. ORL1 receptors are present at both central and peripheral sites in several mammalian species but their functions are as yet poorly understood. The main aim of this investigation was to study the effects of nociceptin and the putative ORL1 receptor antagonist [Phe(1)psi(CH(2)-NH)Gly(2)]nociceptin(1-13)NH(2) in two peripheral tissues, the isolated proximal colon of the mouse and the distal colon of the rat. Nociceptin, [D-Ala(2), MePhe(4), Gly-ol(5)]enkephalin (DAMGO; mu-opioid receptor selective) and [D-Pen(2), D-Pen(5)]enkephalin (DPDPE; delta-opioid receptor selective) caused concentration-dependent contractions of mouse and rat isolated colon preparations (nociceptin EC(50)=1.20 and 0.28 nM in the mouse and rat, respectively). Des[Phe(1)]nociceptin (250 nM) had no contractile effect. Naloxone (300 nM) antagonised the effects of DAMGO and DPDPE but had no effect in either preparation on contractions seen in response to nociceptin. [Phe(1)psi(CH(2)-NH)Gly(2)]nociceptin(1-13)NH(2) also caused contractions in the colonic preparations (EC(50)=6.0 and 3.1 nM in the mouse and rat, respectively); there was no evidence of any antagonist activity. Tetrodotoxin (1 microM) abolished the contractile effects of nociceptin in the mouse colon but had no effect in the rat. In the vas deferens preparation isolated from DBA/2 mice, nociceptin caused concentration-dependent inhibitions of electrically-evoked contractions which were antagonised by [Phe(1)psi(CH(2)-NH)Gly(2)]nociceptin(1-13)NH(2) (apparent pK(B)=6. 31). However, [Phe(1)psi(CH(2)-NH)Gly(2)]nociceptin(1-13)NH(2) (0.3-10 microM) also possessed agonist activity in this preparation, as it inhibited the electrically-evoked contractions in a concentration-dependent manner. These observations do not support the proposal that [Phe(1)psi(CH(2)-NH)Gly(2)]nociceptin(1-13)NH(2) has agonist activity at central ORL1 receptors but is an antagonist in the periphery and that these differences in efficacy point to differences in the receptors. Rather, these data along with those of others suggest that [Phe(1)psi(CH(2)-NH)Gly(2)]nociceptin(1-13)NH(2) is a partial agonist and that differences in receptor reserve can account for the varied pharmacological actions of this pseudopeptide at central and peripheral sites.

Animals↗

Rates of electroconvulsive therapy use in Edinburgh (1992-1997).

BACKGROUND: The number of ECT treatments given each year is a topic of interest for psychiatrists, users and politicians, but there are major methodological problems in reported studies of rates of ECT use in the British Isles. The aim was to establish whether or not the use of ECT had fallen between 1992 and 1997. METHOD: A computerised database of ECT treatments in Edinburgh and relevant population data were used to calculate annual indices of ECT usage. These indices were calculated separately for the population aged 18-64 years and those 65 years or older. RESULTS: In the general adult population, the rate of ECT use fell progressively and significantly (p < 0.01) from 2.90 to 1.37 treatments per 1000 population. This fall was commensurate with the falls in other indices of ECT use. Among the elderly population, the rate of ECT use was three times that in the general adult population. There was no significant change, although the number of courses of treatment fell by 40% (p = 0.06). CONCLUSIONS: There continues to be a progressive fall in the use of ECT in general adult psychiatry. ECT is used substantially more often in the elderly. Reports of ECT use ought to include numbers of both treatments and patients treated. LIMITATIONS: There was no investigation of the possible causes of the fall in ECT use. The extent to which these findings can be generalised to the rest of the British Isles will require further study.

Adolescent↗