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Biomedical subjects

Christopher Bass

Publications and source records attributed to Christopher Bass.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Does somatization influence quality of life among older primary care patients?

BACKGROUND: Among older people, somatization has been reported to be common and to be predictive of high attendance in primary care. Its relationship with quality of life among older people has not been investigated. OBJECTIVES: The objective was to establish whether, among older primary care attenders, somatized symptoms are independently associated with relevant measures of quality of life. METHOD: Older primary care attenders (n = 127) completed measures of somatized symptoms, psychiatric status, physical health and health-related quality of life. Logistic regression analyses established independent relationships of health and sociodemographic variables with reports of overall quality of life, overall health, restriction of physical activities by health and restriction of social activities by health. RESULTS: For all four outcomes, somatized symptoms independently predicted poorer quality of life ratings. CONCLUSIONS: Somatized symptoms independently influence quality of life in older primary care patients and are worthy of clinical attention.

Aged↗
PubMed2005

Pain and deliberate self-harm: an important association.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to establish how often pain was a factor contributing to an episode of deliberate self-harm. METHOD: Retrospective case note examination of all deliberate self-harm patients with concurrent medical problems admitted to a general hospital over 2 years. RESULTS: Pain was considered to be a contributory factor in the episode of deliberate self-harm in 75 (4%) of the total number of episodes of deliberate self-harm (1665) over the 2-year period. These patients were older and had higher suicide intent scores, but lower rates of previous psychiatric illness or alcohol or drug misuse than did the deliberate self-harm patients with medical problems but no pain. Although 60% had experienced pain for more than 6 months only, 8 (12%) were attending the local Pain Clinic at the time of the deliberate self-harm. CONCLUSION: We propose closer collaboration between general hospital services and local pain clinics for deliberate self-harm patients with painful disorders. Clinicians need to assess suicidal ideation and risk of self-harm when prescribing for this population.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Catatonia causing permanent cognitive impairment: a case study.

OBJECTIVE: We describe a case of psychogenic malignant catatonia resulting in permanent cognitive impairment. BACKGROUND: Catatonia is a neuropsychiatric syndrome characterized by catalepsy, negativism, mutism, muscular rigidity, and mannerisms, often accompanied by autonomic instability and fever. Little is known about the long-term cognitive consequences of the syndrome. METHOD: Medical history includes neurologic examination, neuropsychological evaluation, electroencephalographic data, magnetic resonance imaging, sodium amytal interview, and treatment with electroconvulsive therapy. RESULTS: Selective deficits in executive function and an anterograde amnesia were evident a week post-ECT treatment and continued to be present at follow-up after 2 years and 8 months. CONCLUSION: The permanent cognitive impairments are considered in the context of catatonia as a frontal lobe syndrome.

Amobarbital↗
PubMed2004

Do general practitioners believe that their older patients physical symptoms are somatized?

OBJECTIVE: To establish general practitioner (GP) ratings of the origins of their older patients' physical symptoms, and to test the hypothesis that those older patients rated as somatizing would have similar clinical characteristics to those found in studies of younger attenders. METHODS: A prospective study among older primary care attenders in two UK practices. All were rated for psychiatric disorder, physical illness, frequency of attendance and demographics. GPs rated degree of somatization on a 5-point scale. RESULTS: Almost three quarters of attenders were considered to have some psychological component to physical presentations, with 13.3% rated as primarily or entirely psychological. Frequent attendance, female gender and antidepressant prescription were associated with high somatization ratings, but depressive disorder was not. CONCLUSION: GPs consider somatization to be an important cause of physical presentations among older patients, especially among female frequent attenders.

Age Distribution↗
PubMed2002

Chest pain.

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Angina Pectoris↗