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Biomedical subjects

J Merz

Publications and source records attributed to J Merz.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Caregivers' preferences for the treatment of patients with Alzheimer's disease.

OBJECTIVES: To learn caregivers' preferences for the treatment of AD with a disease-slowing therapy, and to identify relationships between these preferences and the characteristics of caregivers and patients. METHODS: A structured interview with 40 caregivers of patients with AD. Preferences were measured for an AD-slowing medicine with the benefits of a gain in survival and a delay to nursing home placement (NHP), and risks of three degrees of severity of GI bleeding. RESULTS: Using a six-point scale ranging from "not at all important" to "extremely important," the median rating of the importance of survival as a treatment benefit was "very important" and of a delay to NHP was "extremely important." Fifty-five percent of the caregivers identified a benefit more important than these two benefits. Qualitative data showed that caregivers' reasons for these preferences featured the importance of patient quality of life, and the preservation of patient cognition and function. Bivariate analyses showed that increasing importance of the benefit of survival was related to higher assessments of the patient's health and quality of life, and lower ratings of the caregiver's experience of burden. In order to slow disease progression by 1 year, 25/38 (66%) of caregivers would accept some risk of death from gastrointestinal bleeding. Regression models showed that risk tolerance was higher among caregivers who were working, adult children caring for early stage patients or from families with an history of dementia. CONCLUSIONS: Caregivers generally are willing to tolerate notable amounts of risk to slow AD progression. Factors that describe the caregiver's experience and perception of the patient and the patient-caregiver relationship influence how they want to treat the disease. This information may be useful for decisions about how to study and prescribe AD treatments.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

[Adjustment to illness in patients with chronic physical diseases--initial experiences with the zurich illness adaptation questionnaire].

270 patients who suffered from gynaecological cancer, epilepsy or diabetes mellitus were examined with a newly developed questionnaire as to their coping behaviour. In order to assess the dimensions and reliability of the instrument, the data were evaluated by different statistical methods. For the three coping patterns established by factor analysis: anxiety/withdrawal, emotional neutrality/diversion and hope/facing of illness, significant correlations resulted with the variables age and sex. The outcome of the investigation suggests that if the disease takes a favourable turn, the chronically ill patient, similarly, copes with it in a favourable manner. For the differentiation and prominence of coping patterns, the patient's subjectively experienced impairment of his physical state of health seems to play an important role.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1985

Social disability in schizophrenia: the controlled prospective Burghölzli study II. Premorbid living situation and social adjustment--comparison with a normal control sample.

The assessment of premorbid adjustment in schizophrenia has gained increasing interest in psychiatric research. Numerous studies have provided evidence on the predictive power of premorbid adjustment in the course and outcome of schizophrenic psychoses, but only little systematic research has been done on this topic comparing schizophrenics and healthy persons. In this study we have analyzed the premorbid life situation and social adjustment of 69 first onset schizophrenics in contrast to 60 healthy subjects. The comparisons between these samples showed significant differences for nearly all areas assessed, indicating a premorbid disablement of the schizophrenics both for quantitative and qualitative aspects of social functioning. Compared to that of healthy people, the size of the schizophrenics' social network is markedly reduced and often characterized by a strong link to their family of origin. In general, the schizophrenics fail to establish close relationships or engage in social contact. Moreover, they tend to withdraw from existing relationships, especially heterosexual ones. Even when the schizophrenics appear quite normal on formal criteria (such as partnership or employment situation), further analyses often reveal problems, e.g., conflicts at work or reticence with partners. The results of this study clearly demonstrate the necessity of assessing not only formal criteria but also behavioral patterns and emotions of the persons concerned.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

[Marked life events prior to an acute schizophrenic episode. Comparison of a sample of first admissions with a normal sample (author's transl)].

Brown and Birley demonstrated a triggering effect in schizophrenic disorders for life events. In our study no similar result was found. As many events were discovered in controls as in first admission schizophrenic patients for the two 3-month periods assessed: 1-3 months and 4-6 months prior to onset of an acute episode or prior to interview. But methodology used in this study differs with respect to the periods assessed: Brown and Birley used 3-week periods, we used 3-month periods. Patients as well as controls reported significantly more events for the period immediately prior to the onset or interview. We suppose that neither patients nor controls actually experienced fewer events in the second period but that they remembered more of them for the period nearer to the interview.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1975

[The multiple selection vocabulary test (MSVT-B)--an accelerated intelligence test].

A new accelerated intelligence test is presented which is known as the multiple selection vocabulary test B. This is a very objective and reliable test measuring the general level of intelligence. The time of testing will be about three to five minutes in the case of persons that are free of any psychiatric disorders. Test results will be only negligibly influenced by psychic and mental disorders.

Humans↗