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[Multi-axial system of chapter V (F) of ICD-10. Initial results of a multicenter practicability and reliability study].

With the introduction of operationalized diagnostic systems the multiaxial approach became a more important issue. The proposed multiaxial system of ICD-10 consists of three axes: on axis I psychiatric diagnoses are made according to the ICD-10 Clinical Guidelines or Diagnostic Criteria for Research. Axis II (Disability Diagnostic Scale, DDS) deals with impairment of psychosocial functioning. On axis III environmental/circumstantial and personal lifestyle management factors are rated. As part of the WHO international field trial, applicability and inter-rater reliability of the system were examined in seven German-speaking centers. In addition axis II was compared with the corresponding axis of DSM-III-R (Global Assessment of Functioning Scale). 45 German clinicians rated 12 case histories written in English (provided by WHO) with 488 ratings altogether. Diagnoses on axis I with an average percentage agreement of 65.6% and a mean kappa of 0.50 showed a moderate inter-rater reliability. For axis II the intraclass coefficient was 0.62, and that for the corresponding DSM-III axis was 0.65: both these axes thus also had a moderate inter-rater reliability. There was a close correlation between the subscales and the global assessment of axis II there was. Wide variation was found in the psychosocial circumstances on axis III, the mean kappa value being 0.16. In the discussion proposals for the revision process for the multiaxial ICD-10 system are made.

Adult↗

Motivations and psychosocial impact of genetic testing for HNPCC.

A type of hereditary colorectal cancer (CRC) known as hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) is associated with MLHI and MSH2 gene mutations. This study consists of a pilot, cross-sectional study of 50 individuals who were engaged in the genetic testing process for HNPCC. The study investigated the motivations and attitudes around genetic testing and current psychosocial functioning through the use of standardized measures, as well as obtained information on disclosure patterns associated with test results. The mean age of the sample was 44.3 years. (SD = 15.0). Twenty-three individuals were identified as "carriers" (13 had a previous history of CRC), seven were "non-carriers" and 20 individuals were still awaiting test results. The primary motivations for participating in genetic testing were similar to previous reports and included: wanting to know if more screening tests were needed, obtaining information about the risk for offspring and increasing certainty around their own risk. The psychosocial scores demonstrated that a subgroup of individuals exhibited distress, with greater distress for those individuals awaiting results or testing positive. There was a high level of satisfaction associated with the experience of testing. Individuals in this study tended to disclose their test results to a variety of family and non-family members. Disclosure was primarily associated with positive experiences however, some individuals reported regret around disclosure of their results. These preliminary findings should be further explored in a larger prospective study design over multiple time points.

Adult↗

Reliability and validity of a Swedish version of the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-S).

The aim of this study was to translate the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP) into Swedish and evaluate the reliability and validity of the Swedish version (OHIP-S). The OHIP is a 49-item, self-administered questionnaire divided into 7 different subscales. The original version in English was translated into Swedish, accompanied by back-translation into English, after which the Swedish version was revised. A total of 145 consecutive patients participated and answered a questionnaire. The patients comprised five clinically separate groups: temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD) (n = 30), Primary Sjögren's Syndrome (SS) (n = 30), burning sensation and pain in the oral mucosa (oral mucosal pain, OMP) (n = 28), skeletal malocclusion (malocclusion) (n = 27), and healthy dental recall patients (controls) (n = 30). The TMD group and the control group participated in a test-retest procedure. The internal reliability of each subscale was calculated with Cronbach's alpha and found to be high and to range from 0.83-0.91. The stability (test-retest) of the instrument, calculated using the intraclass correlation coefficient, ranged from 0.87 to 0.98. The construct validity of OHIP-S was compared with subscales of the Symptom Check List (SCL-90) (rho 0.65) and the Jaw Function Limitation Scale (FLS) (rho 0.76) and analyzed with Spearman's correlation coefficient. Convergent validity was evaluated by comparing OHIP with self-reported health using Spearman's correlation coefficient and was found to be acceptable (rho 0.61). In the evaluation of the discriminative ability of the instrument, significant differences were found in the total OHIP-S score between the controls and the other four groups (P < 0.001). We conclude that the reliability and validity of OHIP-S is excellent. The instrument can be recommended for assessing the impact of oral health on masticatory ability and psychosocial function.

Analysis of Variance↗

["Risk children": the importance of biological and psychosocial risks for child development in the first two years of life].

In a prospective longitudinal study the development of N = 362 children will be followed over four time points (T1-T4) from birth to school age utilizing a comprehensive battery of instruments. Aims of the study are the description of the developmental course of children born at differing degrees of biological and psychosocial risk, the identification of early predictors of developmental disorders and their compensation, as well as the analysis of the processes and mechanisms underlying differential developmental patterns. The results of waves 1 and 2 show that early development from 3 to 24 months is quite unstable. Depending on the examined domain of development up to 3/4 of the disturbances of infancy have remitted by the later age, whereas nearly a fifth of the hitherto well children developed new disturbances. Both risks have a marked negative effect on development. While biological risks go hand in hand with impaired motor functioning, psychosocial risks adversely affect cognitive and social-emotional competence. However, the relative weight of risk factors changes during the first two years with biological risks becoming less important and psychosocial risk factors gaining influence. Single risk factors identified as being prognostically very unfavourable are very low birth weight and neonatal seizures. Of the psychosocial risks a pattern of unfavourable family characteristics such as low educational level, history of broken home or mental health problems of parents and chronic difficulties is related most strongly to poor outcome.

Affective Symptoms↗

Renal transplantation in children: psychological and donation-related aspects from the parental perspective.

Parent(s) accompanying their 18 children to the annual medical follow-up after renal transplantation were interviewed by a child psychiatric social worker. Thirteen of the children had received their grafts from one of their parents, two from other relatives, and three from cadaveric donors. The aims of this interview were to study the decision-making process regarding donation, and the consequences, reflections, and psychological reactions from the parental perspective. Although most parents reported improved psychosocial functioning of the family, many parents also reported significant psychological distress, in many cases complicated by unemployment related to the care of the child. Most parent donors reported that the relationship with their child had improved. For most parents, the decision about the donation seemed to have been a matter of course. However, the process may have induced suffering in those parents who had felt obliged to donate. Thus, questions regarding donation must be approached in a professional and non-judgmental manner when parents are informed about the preconditions of transplantation. The present results indicate a need of psychosocial support for all families during the transplantation process. Therefore, a psychologist and a social worker have been included in the pediatric nephrology team at our unit. The donors also require further information concerning the operative details as well as in regard to the post-operative pain.

Adolescent↗

Comorbidity burden and its impact on psychosocial morbidity in depressed outpatients.

BACKGROUND: Many studies have examined the co-occurrence of depression and one or two nondepressive disorders; however, little research has looked at broad spectrum comorbidity (i.e., comorbidity across several diagnostic categories) in depressed patients. Research on diagnostic practices in routine clinical settings--in which unstructured interviewing is the norm--suggests that comorbid conditions are often not detected [Zimmerman, M., Mattia, J. 1999. Psychiatric diagnosis in clinical practice: Is comorbidity being missed? Compr. Psychiatry, 40, 182-191]. In this study we examined the independent impact of different comorbid diagnostic categories on psychosocial morbidity in psychiatric outpatients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). METHODS: Participants were drawn from a pool of 1000 psychiatric outpatients interviewed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV diagnoses (SCID-IV; [First, M.B., Spitzer, R.L., Williams, J.B.W., Gibbon, M., 1995. Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID). American Psychiatric Association, Washington, D.C.]). We compared the demographics, clinical characteristics, and psychosocial functioning of depressed outpatients with and without different axis I comorbidities, then conducted multivariate analyses to determine the respective impact of comorbid axis I disorders. RESULTS: Three hundred and seventy-three patients had a principal diagnosis of unipolar MDD. One hundred twenty-nine (34.6%) were diagnosed with MDD only, and 244 (65.4%) had MDD and at least one other axis I disorder. Comorbidity was associated with longer duration of index episode, more psychiatric morbidity, and more social and occupational impairment. There was also a significant relationship between increasing number of comorbid axis I disorders and greater psychiatric and psychosocial impairment. In regression analyses, comorbidity burden (i.e., the number of comorbid axis I disorders) showed the strongest relation to psychiatric and psychosocial impairment. LIMITATIONS: This is not a random sample of depressed outpatients and, thus, may not be generalizable to all outpatients with depression. Second, Axes II and III comorbidity were not assessed. CONCLUSIONS: Comorbidity burden showed the strongest relation to impairment over and above the presence of any particular class of disorders.

Activities of Daily Living↗

The clinical interview.

Subjects were given in-depth interviews aimed at assessing their level of functioning within their families, with peers, at school, and in leisure activities. Subjects were interviewed when the mean age of the study population was 11 and again at mean age 16. At the time of the first interview, index subjects were impaired relative to controls in interpersonal relations, work and play activities, self-esteem, and mood. There were no apparent differences due to rearing environment or sex, and no interactions with genetic background. At the time of the second interview, index-control differences were even more widespread, with index children showing impairment in virtually all examined areas of psychosocial function. Again, there were no group differences or interactions involving environment or sex. While index and control subjects remained highly discriminable from preadolescent to adolescent periods, there was less evidence of symptom stability in individual subjects over the 5-year period.

Adolescent↗

[Whole rehabilitation: a new goal of erectile dysfunction therapy].

Phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors effectively enhance the erectile function of the patients with erectile dysfunction (ED). The use of sildenafil citrate is expanding to a broader extent. Pulmonary artery hypertension has become a new indication of sildenafil. Sildenafil could improve the epithelial function in several vascular conditions in clinical trials. This article reviews the recent advances on basic and clinical studies of ED and sildenafil. On animal models, sildenafil could resume the cavernous epithelial function, up-regulate the protein expression of phosphorylated endothelial NO synthase (eNOS), reverse the decreased intracavernosal pressure (ICP) induced by pudendal artery blood flow restriction or hypoxia. In clinical studies, over 50% of ED patients receiving sildenafil got a fully rigid erection (grade 4 erection). And the same percentage of post-nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy patients receiving sildenafil obtained penile rehabilitation and spontaneously resumed erection sufficient for sexual intercourse. Sildenafil treatment has contributed to the normalization of self-esteem, confidence and sexual harmony in men with ED. All this suggests that a whole rehabilitation from erectile to psychosocial function may become a new goal of ED therapy.

Animals↗

Efficacy of a brief psychosocial intervention for symptoms of stress and distress among patients in primary care.

Psychosocial problems and symptoms of emotional distress play a prominent role in patients reporting to primary care settings. Interpersonal counseling (IPC) was developed as a brief psychosocial intervention for patients with stress and distress to be administered by nurse practitioners in a primary care setting. The results of a pilot study indicate more rapid reduction of symptoms and improvement in emotional symptoms and psychosocial functioning in the IPC group than in a comparison group with initially elevated scores on the General Health Questionnaire. The priorities for further testing are discussed, and possible implications for service delivery are explored.

Adult↗

Impact of adversity on functioning and comorbidity in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

OBJECTIVE: Prior research on risk factors for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has shown that familial risk factors play a role in the disorder's etiology. This study investigated whether features of the family environment were associated with ADHD. METHOD: One hundred forty children with ADHD and 120 normal control probands were studied. Subjects were Caucasian, non-Hispanic males between the ages of 6 and 17 years. Exposure to parental psychopathology and exposure to parental conflict were used as indicators of adversity, and their impact on ADHD and ADHD-related psychopathology and dysfunction in children was assessed. RESULTS: Increased levels of environmental adversity were found among ADHD compared with control probands. The analyses showed significant associations between the index of parental conflict and several of the measures of psychopathology and psychosocial functioning in the children. In contrast, the index of exposure to parental psychopathology had a much narrower impact, affecting primarily the child's use of leisure time and externalizing symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: A relationship appears to exist between adversity indicators and the risk for ADHD as well as for its associated impairments in multiple domains. These findings confirm previous work and stress the importance of adverse family-environment variables as risk factors for children who have ADHD.

Achievement↗

Quality of life: an important dimension in assessing the treatment of depression?

Quality of life is used to assess the overall impact of medical treatments from the patient's perspective. Because depression affects a person's ability to function at work and at home, the evaluation of various treatments must include an assessment of patients' physical, social and psychological status. This paper classifies and evaluates a variety of widely used health-related quality-of-life questionnaires that have potential value as outcome measures in the treatment of depression. The paper also outlines how these measures have been beneficial in the assessment of depressed patients. They reveal differences between patients with depression and control groups, are sensitive to change in status during treatment, have predictive value for outcome measures and provide additional information about timelines for improvement in psychosocial functioning, which may occur at a different rate than changes in other depressive symptoms. Despite the limitations of these questionnaires, they provide an important additional dimension to the evaluation of treatment with antidepressant medications.

Antidepressive Agents↗

A nursing rehabilitation program for women with breast cancer receiving adjuvant chemotherapy.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To examine the effects of a comprehensive rehabilitation program on facilitating physical and psychosocial adaptation of women with breast cancer who are receiving adjuvant chemotherapy. DESIGN: Experimental. SETTING: Breast evaluation clinics of two New England medical centers with comprehensive cancer treatment programs. SAMPLE: 14 women (mean age = 44 years) receiving adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer (86% stage II) following surgical treatment. METHODS: Subjects were assigned randomly to the experimental group or the usual care group. Experimental group members began a structured exercise program of walking and attended support group meetings. All subjects were tested before beginning chemotherapy, during the course of chemotherapy, and one month following chemotherapy completion. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES: Performance status, physical functioning, psychosocial adjustment, self-concept and body image, and 12 symptoms (e.g., fatigue, nausea, anxiety). FINDINGS: Measures of physical performance, psychosocial adjustment, and symptom intensity revealed improved adaptation in subjects who completed the walking/support group program. CONCLUSIONS: Physical and psychosocial benefits from a modest walking exercise program and a support group are possible for patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: Although more detailed research is necessary to answer some of the questions raised by this study, implementing the walking program and forming a support group are achievable in an outpatient setting.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Co-occurring psychiatric disorders in women with addictions.

There is clinically important comorbidity between psychiatric and substance use disorders, particularly in women. Women with affective and anxiety disorders are more likely to present with alcohol or drug abuse/dependence. In turn, substance-abusing women are more likely to experience clinically significant depression and anxiety. Emerging evidence is pointing to an etiological role for anxiety disorders in the development of substance abuse/dependence; however, etiologic evidence is not as clear-cut for major depressive disorder. PTSD appears to be a particularly important factor for alcohol and drug dependence in women who have experienced childhood or adult sexual and or physical abuse. Although pharmacotherapy for affective or anxiety disorders is useful for ameliorating psychiatric symptoms, research is mixed on the effectiveness for improving alcohol- and drug-related outcomes. There is some limited evidence that women-specific services can improve treatment retention, substance use outcomes, and possibly psychosocial functioning compared with traditional mixed-gender programs. However, it is clear that women with co-occurring psychiatric and substance use problems are challenging to engage and retain in care. Physicians providing women's reproductive health services can serve a vital role in the identification and referral of substance-abusing women. Particular attention should be focused on screening and assessment of alcohol and drug use and problem severity among women who have identified psychiatric disorders or who are receiving antidepressant or anxiolytic medications. Recognition and referral for both psychiatric and substance use disorders are critical for long-term health and psychosocial improvement.

Adolescent↗

Deficit in schizophrenia: the relationship between negative symptoms and neurocognition.

The aim of the study was to analyze the role of clinical and neuropsychological variables in the psychosocial functioning and evolution of negative schizophrenia. We examined a sample of 49 negative schizophrenic outpatients who were pharmacologically stabilized. The subjects were evaluated clinically with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (SADS), and neuropsychologically with a broad neuropsychological test battery. The correlations between all of the variables were studied and their predictive capacity assessed by linear regression methods. When the neuropsychological impairment criterion was established, we were able to distinguish two groups of patients with similar psychopathologies, but different neuropsychological and prognostic characteristics. Schizophrenic patients with neuropsychological impairment showed worse prognosis, worse evolution, and worse psychosocial adaptation than nonneuropsychologically impaired schizophrenics. Cognitive variables are statistically good predictors of evolution, prognosis, and adaptation. In conclusion, the negative syndrome of schizophrenia is neuropsychologically heterogeneous. Although negative patients present a similar clinical profile, their neuropsychological and prognostic characteristics may differ.

Adult↗

Executive functioning in preschool-age children prenatally exposed to alcohol, cocaine, and marijuana.

BACKGROUND: Reports from clinical and experimental (animal) research converge on the suggestion that prenatal exposure to alcohol, cocaine, or marijuana undermines executive functioning (EF) and its neurological underpinnings. However, large, adequately controlled, prospective studies of alcohol and marijuana effects on EF have reported conflicting findings, and there have been no such studies of cocaine exposure. METHODS: EF was investigated in a cohort (n = 316) of 4-year-old children the majority of whose mothers had used varying combinations of cocaine, alcohol, and marijuana during pregnancy. With use of postpartum maternal report and biological assay, children were assigned to overlapping prenatal cocaine-exposed, alcohol-exposed, and marijuana-exposed groups and to complementary control groups. The postnatal environmental assessment included measures of maternal intellectual and psychosocial functioning, current drug or alcohol use, and home environment. RESULTS: The children in the alcohol-exposed group had worse tapping-inhibition performance than children in the non-alcohol-exposed group, and this effect persisted when potential confounding environmental variables, other drug variables, and concurrent verbal intelligence were controlled for. CONCLUSIONS: Prenatal alcohol is predictive of decreased EF in early childhood that could not be attributed to environmental factors. The results are discussed in terms of the age and overall high-risk status of the children.

Alcohol Drinking↗

Psychosocial correlates of AIDS-risk drug use and sexual behaviors.

Theoretical and empirical research suggests psychosocial functioning is important in drug abuse intervention strategies, especially those focusing on efforts to change AIDS risk behaviors. Self-esteem, depression, anxiety, proneness to risk taking, decision-making confidence, self-assessment of drug use problems, and desire for help with drug problems, along with personal background and health history indicators, were assessed for 194 injection drug users in an AIDS prevention outreach program in New Orleans. Composite index scores for needle risk behaviors were associated with low self-esteem and low decision-making confidence as well as with higher scores on depression, anxiety, drug use problems, and desire for help. However, these psychosocial measures were not significantly related to the composite index for sex risks. Health history measures, represented by previous exposures to hepatitis and sexually transmitted diseases, were significantly related to both needle and sex risk indices. Implications for AIDS intervention efforts are discussed.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

A pilot study of interpersonal psychotherapy by telephone with cancer patients and their partners.

A single-arm pilot study explored the feasibility of adapting in Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) by telephone to reduce psychological distress and to enhance coping during cancer treatment. Therapy focuses on role transitions, interpersonal conflicts, and grief precipitated by cancer. Breast cancer patients receiving high-dose chemotherapy received weekly sessions with a psychologist throughout chemotherapy and for 1 month afterwards. Patients could invite one 'partner' to receive individual telephone IPT. Psychosocial functioning was assessed using standardized measures at study entry, after chemotherapy, and following telephone IPT. Accrual and participation supplied evidence of feasibility: 14 patients and 10 partners were recruited, 82.5% of those eligible. Patients had a mean of 16 sessions; partners had a mean of 11. Participants rated their satisfaction with the program between 'good' and 'excellent'. A test of the efficacy of telephone IPT requires a larger, randomized trial. In order to standardize the intervention, a treatment manual was developed. This study indicated the importance of outreach to family members as well as to cancer patients, intensive patient education about oncology treatment and the medical care setting, and psychosocial services that continue after cancer treatment has been completed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Variables associated with hospitalization decisions by emergency psychiatrists after a patient's suicide attempt.

OBJECTIVE: This study explored the factors psychiatrists considered in deciding on hospitalization for a large sample of suicide attempters in the emergency department of a general hospital in Madrid, Spain, between 1996 and 1998. METHODS: Psychiatrists assessed 509 patients who had attempted suicide; 196 of these (39 percent) were hospitalized in the psychiatric unit, and 313 (61 percent) were discharged from the emergency department. The assessment included Beck's Suicidal Intent Scale (SIS) and a checklist of 47 clinical variables. RESULTS: Of the 32 clinical variables significantly associated with hospitalization that were introduced in a logistic regression model, 11 remained significant. Six variables were associated with an increased odds of hospitalization: intention to repeat the attempt, plan to use a lethal method, low psychosocial functioning before the suicide attempt, previous psychiatric hospitalization, a suicide attempt in the past year, and planning that nobody would try to save their life after they had attempted suicide. Five variables decreased the odds: a realistic perspective on the future after the attempt, relief that the attempt was not effective, availability of a method to kill oneself (that was not used), belief that the attempt would influence others, and family support. Models based on the SIS total score and individual SIS items had lower specificity and sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS: Psychiatrists appear to rely on patients' self-report in deciding on hospitalization rather than focus on demographic, diagnostic, or psychosocial issues. If the findings of this study were replicated in other hospital settings, the implication would be that the guidelines for assessing suicide attempts need to encourage thorough and detailed assessment of the attempt and the future plans.

Adolescent↗