Biomedical subjects

D Klusmann

Publications and source records attributed to D Klusmann.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1995

[Computer programs supporting qualitative research].

Computer programs to aid qualitative research are offered in increasing numbers. Most programs provide basic features like the decomposition of large bodies of text, labelling of text units by category names, retrieval and search for key words. More advanced features are graphical displays of the categories, secondary texts, statistical output and a multi-user interface. The benefits and dangers of these programs for the process of doing qualitative research are discussed.

Community Psychiatry↗

PubMed1995

[Hope in radiotherapy patients with poor prognosis].

BACKGROUND: The psychological situation of patients undergoing radiotherapy has been investigated in a joint research project of the Department of Medical Psychology and the Department of Radiology of the University Clinic, Hamburg. This project developed interventions to support these patients psychologically. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Between 1990 and 1993 77 patients with final prognosis have been regularly seen by a psychologist during radiotherapy and some of them afterwards in addition. With these patients, medical doctors and relatives 763 contacts have been documented by verbal description and analyzed, aided by a special computer program for qualitative analysis. This paper is concerned with only one topic that has emerged from the material: hope. RESULTS: Patients with final prognosis oscillate between hope and anxiety. Hope goes along with mechanisms of defence like denial and displacement which are adopted to counter anxiety and to protect personal integrity. There is a wide range of carriers of hope, including the doctor in charge and the magic healer as well. Nonstandard alternative therapy is often mediated by an initiative from a relative. The hopes of patients are not only focused on therapy but also on decent human responsiveness to their predicament. CONCLUSIONS: Hope is a basic emotional stand that is of vital importance for many patients, even when facing impending death.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Changes in adolescents' sexuality between 1970 and 1990 in West-Germany.

Based on two studies (using semistructured interviews) of 16- and 17-year-old West German urban adolescents, the first in 1970 (N = 602) and the second in 1990 (N = 415), this paper traces the changes in young people's sexual behavior and attitudes during the past two decades: (i) The marked trend in the 1960s towards having coitus and petting at an ever earlier age does not seem to have continued; the changes noted in the incidence of heterosexual experiences since 1970 are minimal. (ii) Boys feel themselves less at the mercy of their sexual urges than they used to and tend to link sexuality with love and a steady relationship more than they did 20 years ago; there was a similar though less pronounced change among girls. (iii) Girls now get less pleasure and satisfaction out of sexual encounters, and in heterosexual situations take the initiative and control more than they used to. (iv) There is no evidence that the problem HIV/AIDs had a marked influence on the changes described. Results of the comparative studies are discussed in the context of current developments in man/woman relationships and the debate on gender issues.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

PubMed1988

The causes of functional psychoses as seen by patients and their relatives. I. The patients' point of view.

Patients' concepts of the causes of their functional psychoses were investigated by means of an open-ended question and a 30-item checklist. While patients, like professional experts, endorsed a multifactorial aetiological concept, they clearly favoured psychosocial explanations over biological ones. There was some variation according to diagnosis, with schizophrenic patients tending to attribute the development of their illness more often to esoteric influences or to their family environment and patients with affective psychoses assuming biological factors or psychosocial stress to be the cause of their illness. The aetiological concepts did not vary with the duration of illness. Our findings do not support the "psychological mindedness" hypothesis, which postulates that there is a greater inclination to adopt psychological explanations among women, younger people, the better educated or people from urban areas as compared with men, older people, the less educated or people from rural areas.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1988

The causes of functional psychoses as seen by patients and their relatives. II. The relatives' point of view.

The concepts of relatives of patients suffering from functional psychoses regarding the causes of the illness were investigated using the same methodological approach as with the patients. Relatives, like patients, favoured psychosocial over biological explanations. However, when compared pairwise the concordance between relatives and patients was very low. Some methodological refinements recommended for further research are proposed.

Adult↗

PubMed1986

[Ecologic factors and risk of rehospitalization of psychotic patients].

The present study investigates the relationship between ecological factors and the community tenure patients with functional psychoses. Data were gathered from the records of three psychiatric hospitals in the city of Hamburg. The analysis controls for the effects of sociodemographic variables and variables pertaining to the last impatient treatment. Variations in readmission rates can be explained by the latter to a certain extent, but only poorly by sociodemographic variables and hardly at all by ecological factors. These findings are discussed with respect to the methodological limitations of the study and as substantive results. Two lines of interpretation are offered. Firstly, equal readmission rates may have been caused by different sets of ecological factors; secondly, patients released from mental hospital may be relatively insusceptible to the impact of ecological factors.

Adult↗

PubMed1983

[Sectoring of a university clinic].

UNLABELLED: In 1980 the psychiatric clinic of the University of Hamburg took charge of a catchment area within the city of Hamburg. From this year on the clinic decided to provide half of its in-patient and day clinic capacity (that is 71 beds and 10 day clinic places) for a population of 139,000 living in this region. The effects of this decision are discussed on three levels: - changes in the patient population - opinions and attitudes of the clinic personnel - implications for the organizational structure RESULTS: The proportion of in-patients from the catchment area increased from 20% to 45% due to the clinic taking charge of this region. This increase did not much change the characteristics of the total in-patient population admitted to the clinic, except for a shift towards more older patients and more patients with a diagnosis of dementia or organic psychosis. Around two thirds of the clinic personnel held a predominantly positive view of the clinic's decision to establish a catchment area. Contrary to some hopes the internal structure of the clinic did not change much in response to its newly acquired responsibility for the catchment area. Nevertheless a period of one year seems too short for such changes to occur.

Academic Medical Centers↗

PubMed1981

[Family care for the aged in multigenerational households (author's transl)].

Multigenerational household with widowed elderly above the age of 70 have been studied by interviewing the aged person and his/her daughter/daughter in law. The sample is described according to household composure and some sociodemographic characteristics. Data analysis focused on the relationship between variables in the elderly person and variables in the daughter/daughter in law. Psychic and somatic well-being in the relatives can be predicted by the degree of competence/dependency in the aged family member, but less so with a general health assessment. Organic brain conditions in the aged parents seem to have most adverse effects on the daughter/daughter in law when they are of a moderate degree.

Aged↗

PubMed1981

[How families deal with demented relatives--provisional results of an ongoing study (author's transl)].

In the course of a geriatric-sociological field-investigation 140 families were studied, which live with an old relative and take care of him in case of disease. 45 of the old persons suffered from a dementive syndrome of medium or severe degree. All the information obtained in these 45 families (precoded-interviews, questionnaires, free-interviews, follow-up contacts, group-work with care-taking relatives) was inspected regarding the question whether the families, when dealing with the diseased family-member, showed one or more of the following reactions: 1. Reactions of despair 2. Sympathy for the experience of decreasing efficiency 3. Dementia and neurotic interaction 4. Activating care 5. Pedagogic efforts 6. Inclusion of children 7. Readiness and avoidance of contact 8. Readiness to spoil the demented relative - The results show, that the relatives make altogether great efforts ehen caring for their demented family members; this refers to psychic energy as well as to material means.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Treatment of the sick elderly in households accommodating several generations].

Multigenerational households with widowed persons aged 70 and more have been studied in order to determine the relationship between the following two groups of variables: (a) variables in the aged person describing the existence and degree of an organic mental impairment due to a dementive process and of other signs of physical illnesses. (b) variables in her daughter or daughter in law consisting of selfratings of psychosomatic complaints and of attitude-scales. Results were as follows: (a) If there were indications of personality changes due to an organic brain syndrom the relatives had a lower degree of life-satisfaction and more frequently suffered from psychosomatic symptoms and interpersonal stress than those, whose old relatives showed an unaltered personality. (b) A great number of comparisons failed to show any statistical differences. Especially severe physical illness, organic brain syndrome and the need for physical care were not related to life satisfaction, psychosomatic complaints, stress due to emotional involvement and the attitude towards home-care. Our attempt to explain the missing correlations led to the following factors: the small size of the sample, self-selection of the sample and possibly inappropriate operationalisation and measurement of variables. In respect to these results the ongoing study will be modified in some details: There will be a qualitative analysis of transcribed semi-structured interviews. The proportion of families with severely demented relatives will be increased. In an additional step we shall examine families, who have decided to transfer their old member into an institution.

Aged↗