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Biomedical subjects

I Grant

Publications and source records attributed to I Grant.

At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources
PubMed1981

Prognostic validity of the MMPI.

Attempted to determine the degree to which the MMPI has prognostic validity for psychiatric patients diagnosed as schizophrenic (N = 41). Patient records were analyzed with multiple regression techniques using the MMPI scales as the independent variables and length of hospital stay as the dependent measure. It was found that certain MMPI scales were highly significant and powerful predictors of length of hospital stay, which indicates that the MMPI does indeed have validity as a quantitative predictor of prognosis in clinical situations. Particularly, the two scales with the highest predictive power, Sc and D, were inversely related concerning clinical outcome.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

A comparison of clinical and automated interpretation of the Halstead-Reitan Battery.

The diagnostic accuracy of two clinicians was compared with that of the Russell, Neuringer, and Goldstein (1970) quasi-actuarial system for interpreting the Halstead-Reitan Battery (HRB). The clinicians' independent ratings of HRB data were highly reliable, and were more accurate than the automated system in predicting the presence and laterality of structural cerebral lesions. Comparisons of the subgroups correctly and incorrectly classified by the clinicians suggest some intrinsic limitations of the test data in predicting lesion presence, and especially laterality. Classification accuracy was related to etiology of lesions, and also to extent and location of focal lesions. Neither the clinicians nor the automated system exceeded base-rate predictions regarding chronicity, but this may have been due to sampling bias in the acute group. Although the clinicians' superiority in two of the three prediction tasks may be due to their greater flexibility in weighting complex and unique patterns of test data, it remains to be seen whether this potential advantage will hold up against more sophisticated actuarial methods.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Cross-study comparisons of self-reported alcohol consumption in four clinical groups.

Clinical research on the chronic effects of alcohol has been difficult to evaluate and compare because of the failure by investigators to quantify self-reported alcohol consumption. The authors describe four diverse groups of patients who were treated for alcohol and/or drug abuse. After devising a procedure for comparing the data from these studies, they found that patient self-reports of alcohol consumption may be less distorted than commonly assumed. The present findings are consistent with current research indicating that self-reports of alcohol use are reliable and clinically consistent. The authors also discuss the relationship between neuropsychological impairment and measures of alcohol and drug abuse.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Neuropsychology in alcoholic men in their late thirties: one-year follow-up.

In a previous article the authors reported on two groups of alcoholic men in their late 30s who were remarkably free of neuropsychological impairment. In this article they present the results of a 1-year follow-up of many of these subjects. They found similarities in performance between alcoholic subjects who in the original study had been abstinent for 18 months and nonalcoholic control subjects who drank moderately. However, the group of alcoholic men who in the original study had been recently detoxified (about 3 weeks) failed to show practice-effect learning on follow-up. The authors interpret this failure as possibly indicative of a preclinical phase of what might ultimately become organic impairment.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Sleep disorder over time: psychiatric correlates among males.

This 18 month prospective study assessed the time course of sleep disturbances in 85 male psychiatric out-patients and 103 male non-patients. Over one-third of the patients and 5 per cent of the non-patients reported frequent symptoms of insomnia during at least 14 of the 18 months. Frequency and chronicity of insomnia were strongly associated with intensity of psychiatric symptomatology, but not with diagnosis. Minor tranquillizers and hypnotics were used frequently by patients and occasionally by non-patients, but there was little indication that they altered the course of insomnia.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Normal neuropsychological abilities of alcoholic men in their late thirties.

The neuropsychological performance of alcoholic men in their late 30s (mean age, 37 years), some of whom has been abstinent for 3 weeks and others for 18 months, was compared with that of a group of men who drank occasionally. There were no differences between the alcoholic groups and the comparison group that could not be attributed to normal aging. The number of years of alcoholism or estimated lifetime alcohol use, dietary adequacy, and medical or blackout history did not relate to neuropsychological impairment. The authors suggest that a simple "dose-effect" relationship between alcohol use and cognitive decline cannot be assumed.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Is phencyclidine (PCP) abuse associated with organic mental impairment?.

The performance of sober (average length of abstinence = 27 months) phencyclidine (PCP) abusers on neuropsychological measures of organicity was compared to that of polydrug users who were not experienced with PCP, and to controls who were not alcohol or drug abusers. Six of 12 PCP users, five of 12 polydrug users, and none of the controls showed neuropsychological impairments. The deficits in PCP users occurred despite negative medical-neurological history, and even though the PCP group abused other drugs previously associated with neuropsychological impairment less than the polydrug group. Deficiencies in abstracting and in perceptual-motor integrative abilities were noted. The results suggest the possibility that PCP abuse might be associated with neuropsychological disturbance which persists for considerable time after PCP use ceases.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Organic impairment in polydrug users: risk factors.

In a national collaborative study to assess the neuropsychological status of 151 polydrug users, the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery showed deficits in 37% two to three weeks after they entered treatment and in 34% at three-month follow-up. Comparative rates for a group of psychiatric patients were 26% and 27%, and for nonpatients, 8% and 4%. Extensive and intensive use of CNS depressants and opiates correlated positively with neuropsychological deficit. Older, less-educated subjects with adverse medical or developmental histories were more likely to show polydrug-related organic impairment. Although there is some evidence that such impairment is reversible, the condition appears to be of at least intermediate duration and may be long lasting.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Neuropsychological deficit in polydrug users. A preliminary report of the findings of the collaborative neuropsychological study of polydrug users.

The Collaborative Neuropsychological Study of Polydrug Users performed extensive neuropsychological assessments on 15 polydrug users 3 weeks after their enrollment in each of eight polydrug demonstration programs. Fifty-six (37%) of these subjects exhibited neuropsychological deficit. This deficit was partially related to increasing age, poor education and premorbid medical risk factors. The deficit was also associated with extensive and intensive use of two classes of drugs: sedatives (sleeping pills and minor tranquilizers) and opiates (heroin and other narcotic drugs). Seventeen (26%) of a comparison group of 66 psychiatric in-patients and day patients also demonstrated age- and education-correlated neuropsychological deficit. For these patients impairment was also related to lifetime experience with antipsychotic drugs and (perhaps) with clinical diagnosis of schizophrenia. Although both polydrug users and psychiatric patients revealed serious psychopathology as measured by the MMPI, the pattern of the neuropsychological test findings suggested that psychopathology alone did not account for impairment. The 3 month follow-up which is in progress should delineate further the time course and enduring features of neuropsychological deficit among polydrug users, and may establish more clearly the relationship of sedative and opiate use to such impairment. Changes in psychopathological status of both polydrug users and psychiatric patients should also help to clarify the influence of this variable on neuropsychological findings.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Medical students and drugs: further neuropsychological and use pattern considerations.

Drug use patterns of 134 freshman medical students were surveyed. Ninety-four percent reported experience with alcohol, 72% with marijuana, 24% with hallucinogens or stimulants, and 7% with opiates. Persons who reported use of the least socially sanctioned substances (hallucinogens, stimulants, opiates) were a subgroup of marijuana users, whereas marijuana experienced students were a subgroup of alcohol users. Increasing marijuana use appears to be associated with increased alcohol consumption. Twenty-five students who had never used marijuana and 26 students who had used it on 50 or more occasions were compared on three neuropsychological tests: Tactual Performance Test, Minnesota Perceptuo-Diagnostic Test, and the Hutt Adaptation of the Bender Gestalt Test. There were no neuropsychological differences between marijuana experienced and marijuana naive subjects. The methodological difficulties in studying the long-term cerebral effects of marijuana are discussed.

Age Factors↗