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Biomedical subjects

G Spivack

Publications and source records attributed to G Spivack.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Time of rehabilitation admission and severity of trauma: effect on brain injury outcome.

Outcome after traumatic brain injury, defined by the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) and length of stay in acute rehabilitation, was measured in 59 patients admitted to an intensive rehabilitation program to examine the effects of severity of the initial brain injury, severity of multiple trauma, and length of stay in the acute care hospital. Severity of initial brain injury, best measured by length of coma, was the most significant predictor of GOS outcome. Length of acute hospitalization was a small, but significant, predictor of GOS. Severity of initial brain injury, length of acute hospitalization, and gender emerged as predictors of length of rehabilitation hospital stay. Although length of acute hospitalization is apparently affected by severity of brain injury, it adds significantly--more than severity of brain injury--to the prediction of length of rehabilitation.

Adolescent

Marks and classroom adjustment as early indicators of mental health at age twenty.

The data are derived from a 15-year longitudinal study of 659 urban children who entered kindergarten in 1968, 371 who were interviewed at the age of 20. Analyses related school adjustment and academic performance in the early primary grades, early adolescence, and middle adolescence to mental health outcomes based on responses to a short form of the MMPI at age 20. The results suggest that poor marks, absence of positive coping behaviors, and presence of negative coping behaviors are indicators of later mental health problems, that the absence of positive coping behaviors may be more indicative of later problems than the presence of negative coping behaviors, and that there are sex differences in the time periods at which indicators of school productivity are important.

Achievement

Evaluation of the vasodilator vs inotropic effect of milrinone using an animal model of left ventricular failure: reversal of disopyramide depression of the myocardium with milrinone.

Milrinone (M) has been shown to improve left ventricular (LV) performance in animal and human studies. M has strong vasodilator action, and whether increased LV performance is due primarily to vasodilation or to a direct positive inotropic effect is unclear. Ten mongrel dogs were studied. Disopyramide caused a significant and sustained decrease in LV function and was a good model for myocardial depression. At equal reduction in systemic vascular resistance (SVR), M reversed this LV depression to a significantly greater degree than nitroprusside (NP) did. At equal levels of vasodilation, M produced significantly greater improvement in indices of LV function than NP did in our model of disopyramide-induced LV failure. This suggest that its effect on LV function is not due entirely to afterload reduction, or to reflex sympathetic stimulation, but has a substantial component of direct inotropic stimulation. This study also demonstrated a reversal of disopyramide-induced LV dysfunction by M, which may be clinically useful since, as in many antiarrhythmics, myocardial depression may be a limiting factor in its use.

Animals

An investigative study of the Bender-Gestalt: clinical validation of its use with a reading disabled population.

Investigated usefulness of the Bender-Gestalt in differentiating between primary and secondary reading disability. Research with 50 reading disabled Ss was carried out. The Ss were classified as having a primary or secondary reading disability according to selected criteria; then their Bender protocols were scored. It was hypothesized that developmental scores would differentiate the two diagnostic groups. A second hypothesis was that specific signs would differentiate between primary and secondary reading disabled children. The results supported the latter hypothesis, but not the former. Results also showed that those in the primary group were more reading retarded than secondary reading disability Ss and that Bender-Gestalt scores are not significantly related to reading level in such a group of reading disabled children.

Bender-Gestalt Test

What residents do after graduation.

This article reports the results of an investigation of the professional activities of graduates of National Institute of Mental Health-supported residency programs, spanning the five-year period 1968 to 1972. The results explode the mythical notion that the majority of such trainees enter straightway into the private practice careers. In fact, the majority devote at least half-time to some type of public-service psychiatry, with no less than 43% in full-time public service.

Financing, Government

An instrument to assess staff time utilization in a community mental health center.

The Daily Staff Log is an empirically refined instrument to assess staff hours spent in direct patient and collateral contact, clinical backup time, consultation, education, and administration. Its primary uses as a management tool include description of staff activities, comparisons by discipline or clinic, pre- and postcomparisons following administrative policy change, and cost-effectiveness studies. Conditions for successful use include a firmly committed administrative interest, in-service education on the value of log data for decisionmaking to improve delivery of care, and positive feedback when logs indicate service goals are being met. Following the introduction of logging it was possible to document improvements in clinical and financial efficiency.

Administrative Personnel

Differing perspectives on mental health evaluation.

Small-group workshops of nonevaluators with differing interests in mental health discussed evaluation priorities for community mental health centers. Participants included center professionals, concerned citizens, and funders. A majority of the participants placed high value on accountability from a consumer standpoint and relatively low value on center management issues and cost or equity of service delivery. Center staff were more interested in efficiency and effectiveness, while outsiders with vested interests were more concerned with community involvement. The authors summarize seven role perspectives and discuss their implications for the establishment of evaluation priorities within a center.

Attitude to Health