Biomedical subjects

Arthur I Alterman

Publications and source records attributed to Arthur I Alterman.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

Comparison of embedded and isolated administrations of the California Psychological Inventory's Socialization subscale.

Alternate administration methods were tested for the Socialization (So) subscale of the California Psychological Inventory (CPI; H. G. Gough, 1994; H. G. Gough & P. Bradley, 1996) in 437 young adult men. One method administered the 46 CPI-So items in isolation from the CPI, whereas the 2nd method administered the 46 items embedded in the CPI. External validity measures of antisociality were also administered over the 2 sessions. Isolated administration produced somewhat higher internal consistency and significantly better concurrent validity and demonstrated construct validity as a measure of antisociality. Additional factor analytic studies of the CPI-So and CPI revealed that the 2 CPI-So versions had different factorial structures and that the embedded CPI-So subscale did not retain factorial integrity or an appreciable amount of reliable and uniquely interpretable variance.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Detecting smoking following smoking cessation treatment.

Our study compared the results of self-report (SR) plus breath carbon monoxide (CO) monitoring to SR plus urine cotinine (COT) analysis of recent tobacco use for a recently completed smoking cessation study that compared the efficacy of different intensities of psychosocial treatments coupled with 8 weeks of patch treatment. Treatment outcomes were assessed 9, 26, and 52 weeks from treatment initiation in 200+ patients using both measurement types. COT was able to detect self-reported smoking in over 97% of the cases at all time points, while CO detected self-reported smoking 62, 84, and 89% of the time for the three follow-up assessments. Under 2% of those reporting nonsmoking were found to be smoking via CO, whereas COT found smoking to have occurred for 23, 15, and 7% of the 'nonsmoking' SRs at the three time points. Abstinence rates using SR plus CO were 49, 29, and 26%, contrasted with abstinence rates of 38, 26, and 25% for SR plus COT. These findings suggest that use of urine analysis for COT may lead to more accurate but lowered measured abstinence rates.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Alcohol dependence and abuse in three groups at varying familial alcoholism risk.

Three groups of young men varying in familial alcoholism risk were compared for lifetime and current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) diagnoses. A withdrawal gate diagnostic model (WGM) requiring withdrawal for a dependence diagnosis was also evaluated. Extremely high lifetime DSM-IV diagnostic rates were found for all groups (> or = 78%), with the highest rate in the highest risk group. Similar group differences obtained for individual criteria or symptoms. Although lifetime diagnostic rates were similar for the WGM and DSM-IV, virtually all cases of dependence were preceded by abuse for the WGM, unlike DSM-IV. The findings underline the importance of distinguishing degrees of familial alcoholism risk. The WGM model temporal onset findings versus DSM-IV and the high lifetime diagnostic rates obtained suggest some limitations of the DSM-IV diagnoses.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

The prediction of violent and nonviolent criminal behavior in a methadone maintenance population.

The utility of traits associated with Antisocial Personality Disorder in making risk assessments of violent and nonviolent crimes was examined in 254 subjects sampled from a methadone maintenance population. A factor analysis of a number of baseline measures resulted in five factors measuring hostility, insecure attachment, impaired reality testing, antisocial personality, and empathy. These factors were used in logistic regression analysis to predict charges for violent and nonviolent crimes over a 2-year period. Individuals with high scores on the antisocial personality factor had an increased risk of both violent and nonviolent criminal charges. Individuals with low scores on the empathy factor were at high risk for violent crimes. In an analysis using the factor components rather than the factors, the measures of perspective-taking and a socialization were associated with violent criminal charges, and the measure of psychopathy, but not antisocial behavior, was associated with nonviolent criminal charges. The results support the use of measures of personality traits in addition to measures of a history of antisocial behavior in making violence risk assessments in substance-dependent patients. The DSM construct and diagnosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder may be enhanced by greater emphasis on personality traits associated with antisocial behavior.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Varying results for immunoassay screening kits for cotinine level.

Our earlier study found that although enzyme-linked immunosorbent analysis (ELISA) screening assays for urine cotinine indicated use in former smoking treatment patients who reported abstinence, this finding was sometimes incorrect when validated against gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/ MS; P. Gariti, A. I. Alterman, R. Ehrmann, F. D. Mulvaney, & C. P. O'Brien, 2002). In the current validation study, separate urine samples of 71 of these same patients were reanalyzed by an independent laboratory in blinded fashion using a screening enzyme immunoassay (EIA) analysis and GC/MS confirmation. EIA results showed almost total agreement with confirmatory testing. The findings indicate that use of screening ELISA/EIA for urine cotinine can detect unreported cases of smoking in former patients, but that care is needed in selecting a laboratory for conducting these tests.

Cotinine↗

PubMed2002

Validating a dipstick method for detecting recent smoking.

This report evaluates the validity of a new method for verifying self-reported smoking status in patients presenting for pulmonary medicine treatment. A prospective comparison was made between self-reports of smoking status and a new semiquantitative, enzyme-linked, immunosorbent assay-based method testing for the presence of a prime nicotine metabolite, cotinine. Results were validated by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Data were collected in an urban, academic, tertiary health care setting. The study included 76 consecutive new patients presenting to participating clinical practices at the Pulmonology or Thoracic Surgery Services. Before taking a smoking history, patients were informed that their urine would be tested onsite for the presence of nicotine using a new method, the NicoMeter, for determining tobacco product exposure, followed by more standard laboratory testing. The level of agreement between the biochemical measurement types was excellent, kappa = 0.777. The new biochemical measurement type used was easy to use. Self-reported smoking status corresponded closely to biochemical testing. However, there was a 5.3-9.5% misclassification of smoking status among the group studied, depending upon the measurement type used. Among 32 lung cancer patients, 15.6%, most likely misrepresented their current smoking status. The NicoMeter appears to be a valid and useful method for confirming self-reported smoking status. Lung cancer patients had a higher rate of inaccurate nonsmoking compared with patients with nonmalignant pulmonary disease. The findings have implications for investigators who accept self-reported smoking status without biochemical verification.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Cocaine withdrawal severity and urine toxicology results from treatment entry predict outcome in medication trials for cocaine dependence.

Both cocaine withdrawal symptoms, measured by an instrument called the Cocaine Selective Severity Assessment (CSSA), and urine toxicology results obtained at the start of treatment have been shown to predict treatment outcome in outpatient cocaine dependence treatment. This study further evaluates the predictive validity of the CSSA and urine toxicology results, alone and in combination. Subjects included 76 cocaine-dependent individuals who participated in 7-week, outpatient, pilot medication trials for cocaine dependence. Predictor variables included CSSA scores and results from a urine toxicology screen obtained on the first day of medication treatment. Successful outcome was defined as 3 continuous weeks of self-reported abstinence from cocaine confirmed by urine toxicology screens. Predictive validity was assessed by logistic regression analysis. Both the urine toxicology screen and the CSSA scores were significant predictors of 3 weeks of continuous abstinence from cocaine, and the inclusion of both variables significantly improved the predictive validity of either variable alone. Urine toxicology results and CSSA scores obtained at treatment entry are useful predictors of outcome in outpatient cocaine dependence treatment.

Adolescent↗