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Biomedical subjects

J Passchier

Publications and source records attributed to J Passchier.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Effects of behavioral psychophysiological treatment on schoolchildren with migraine in a nonclinical setting: predictors and process variables.

Evaluated the outcome of a combined behavioral therapy, comprising relaxation training, temperature biofeedback, and cognitive training, administered in a school setting, at posttreatment, and 7-month follow-up, on a group of schoolchildren with migraine. Comparison between the experimental group (n = 32) and the waiting-list control group (n = 9) showed a treatment effect on headache frequency and duration but not on intensity. Using a 50% reduction in the headache activity as a criterion for clinical improvement, 45% of the children in the experimental group were clinically improved at the end of the treatment. The treated subjects were found to have maintained significant improvement at follow-up. Sex, headache history, age, and psychosomatic complaints before the training emerged as predictors of outcome. A decrease in state anxiety and an increase in the ability to relax during the sessions contributed to headache improvement. Finally, the acquired capacity to raise one's finger temperature during the biofeedback sessions was related to headache reduction after the training.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) leads to more postoperative pain relief, but also to more fatigue and less vigour.

This investigation evaluated patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) for subjective well-being and mood in the postoperative period in comparison with the intramuscular (im) administration of morphine given on demand. Patients scheduled for elective upper abdominal surgery were assigned at random to either PCA (n = 17) or im morphine (n = 14). The PCA group experienced significantly more pain relief and consumed more morphine than those who received im morphine. The PCA patients suffered from more fatigue and showed less vigour than the im group. Neither preoperative trait anxiety nor locus of control was associated with postoperative pain in either of the groups.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Suggestibility and headache reports in schoolchildren: a problem in epidemiology.

In a sample from the general population of school children of 15 years of age, we studied whether receiving information about the prevalence of headaches had any effect on their subsequent headache report. Sixty children in the fourth year at four secondary schools were allocated at random to two conditions: a biased condition emphasizing the high prevalence of headaches and a neutral condition. Subjects in the biased condition reported more headaches but they did not report more other physical symptoms than the subjects in the neutral condition. The results are discussed in terms of Pennebaker's theory on reporting symptoms. It is concluded that epidemiological research using the general population should deal more explicitly with the way in which subjects are motivated to participate.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Brain potential differences related to spatial attention in migraineurs with and without aura symptoms support supposed differences in activation.

It is to be expected that differences in electrical activity of the brain between migraine patients with aura and those without aura can only be revealed by stimuli that provoke visual spatial processing, i.e. stimuli that trigger so called endogenous Visual Evoked Potential (VEP) activity. This is not the case for the flashes and checkerboard reversals. Those stimuli elicited exogenous activity only. During and between attacks the blood flow of migraineurs with aura changes in the posterior cerebral part of the brain, which is assumed to be specialized in the processing of spatial aspects of visual stimuli. Reaction times (RTs), early and late Event Related Potential (ERP) differences were compared at 12 scalp positions for two groups of migraineurs (with and without aura) and a control group. They had to perform a passive attention task, checkerboard reversals, and an active attention task, where attention was either divided into or focussed at spatial locations. In agreement with many studies on migraine, checkerboard stimuli did not differ on any early components. However, RTs were faster for migraineurs with aura and their early components were different when stimuli were highly attended. This is probably because these stimuli can relatively easily trigger cortical activity due to an over activated central mechanism and an enhanced level of attention.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Reliability and validity of the Perinatal Grief Scale for women who experienced late pregnancy loss.

The psychometric qualities of the Perinatal Grief Scale (PGS) were evaluated in a sample of 46 Dutch women in late pregnancy (> or = 24 weeks), who had been informed of the diagnosis 'lethal or severe fetal malformation'. The validity was assessed by comparing it to the Impact of Event Scale and to a clinical diagnosis of psychological instability. The PGS appeared to be internally consistent and particularly strongly related to psychological instability. It can therefore be considered as a valid assessment instrument, also for women who experience late pregnancy loss.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1993

The Dutch version of the Nottingham Health Profile: investigations of psychometric aspects.

Data on the adaptation, reliability, and validity of the Dutch version of the Nottingham Health Profile are discussed. The linguistic adaptation of the English version into Dutch is described, followed by the field-testing procedure and the analyses of data from 276 selected subjects from an average general medical group practice in a village nearby Rotterdam. The internal consistency, Cronbach alphas, of the subscales varied from .70 to .85. Test-retest measures for 51 patients with cardiac problems gave Spearman correlations from .69 to .92, while the interscale relationships yielded six relatively independent areas of discomfort and stress. By means of logistic regression analysis on differences between old versus young, male versus female, and healthy versus ill individuals, discriminant validity was satisfactory. Findings suggest that the psychometric aspects of the Dutch version, also seen from a cross-cultural point of view, are sufficient. Nevertheless, further research on reliability and validity of the Dutch version is required to establish its usefulness with different patient groups.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Psychological consequences of genital herpes, an exploratory study with a gonorrhea control-group.

Measurements of some psychosocial variables were obtained from 27 patients with a genital herpes infection and compared with those from 12 patients with a gonorrhea infection. The measurements referred to the period before and during the infection. Evidence was found that during the infection patients were more anxious, more sexually inhibited, more bitter towards their partners, and had more psychological complaints than before the infection. Generally there was no difference between the two groups of patients, with one exception: patients with genital herpes judged themselves as having fewer psychological complaints prior to the disease than did patients with gonorrhea.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1993

Trait-anxiety and achievement motivation are positively correlated with memory performance in patients who visit a geriatric outpatient clinic with amnestic symptoms.

Memory performance was studied in relation to anxiety and achievement motivation in a sample of 35 patients who were referred to a geriatric outpatient clinic for their complaints of memory dysfunction. State-anxiety appeared not to be associated with memory performance or the severity of dementia. Trait-anxiety and achievement motivation were associated positively with memory performance and negatively with the severity of dementia. The evaluation of anxiety symptoms in the assessment of dementia is recommended.

Achievement↗
PubMed1992

The optimal length of headache recording in juvenile migraine patients.

The representativeness of headache recording periods of one, two, three, four and five weeks for juvenile migraine was examined in 41 juvenile patients (suffering from migraine attacks at least twice a month). At pre-treatment and at follow-up, on average a three-week recording period was found to be adequate. On the basis of these findings a longer data-collection period is recommended for juvenile migraineurs than for adult migraine patients at follow-up.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Positive associations between anticipatory anxiety and needle pain for subjective but not for physiological measures of anxiety.

So far, the association between anxiety and pain has not been studied with measures tapping a physiological dimension of anxiety. Therefore, during a blood extraction procedure, we recorded subjective anxiety, electrodermal activity, heart rate, and intensity of pain. Subjects were 15 patients with panic disorder and 24 healthy subjects. Positive associations between subjective anxiety and pain were found in each group. The physiological activity preceding the venipuncture, however, was not significantly related to the intensity of the pain.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Value of the Mini-Mental State Examination and informants' data for the detection of dementia in geriatric outpatients.

The Dutch version of the Mini-Mental State Examination was administered to 138 elderly patients who were referred to a geriatric outpatient clinic for a variety of reasons. An optimal cut-off point of 24/25 was found for the detection of dementia. At this cut-off point, the Mini-Mental State Examination was 87.6% sensitive and 81.6% specific in detecting dementia. The discriminative validity was influenced by education and by the presence of psychiatric disorders other than dementia. Informants' data showed better sensitivity and specificity than the Mini-Mental State Examination for the detection of dementia. The findings suggest that informants' data are a primary source of information for the detection of dementia in geriatric outpatients.

Aged↗
PubMed1991

[Parents' reactions to the birth of a child with a congenital anatomical abnormality: an exploratory study].

In an exploratory study of 12 couples the emotional reactions to the birth of a child with extensive anatomical malformation were investigated retrospectively, using semistructured interviews (on average 18 months after the birth). The couples were selected from the group of parents of children admitted between January 1986 and August 1988 to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit of the Sophia Hospital, Rotterdam. The couples were divided into three groups: those who had had no ultrasonography during the pregnancy (n = 4), those in whom ultrasonography during pregnancy had revealed a foetal abnormality (n = 4) and those in whose children no such diagnoses had been made at ultrasonography during pregnancy (n = 4). After the birth of a child with congenital abnormalities, most parental couples displayed a shock reaction, denial, anger and hurt. In general there was no difference in emotional reaction between the three groups. In all couples the mourning process appeared to have begun only after the birth. Parents of a child with clearly visible abnormalities appeared to have more problems. Two-thirds of the couples had accepted the child's anomaly after some time. Persistent anger, feelings of guilt and anxiety are probably due to uncertainty regarding complications in the child or another pregnancy. Teams treating a child with a congenital anomaly should be aware of the consequences for the parents and should regard support of the parents as an essential part of their task.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1991

Psychological characteristics of women with androgenetic alopecia: a controlled study.

The psychological characteristics and the hair problems of 58 females with androgenetic alopecia were compared with a group of women with non-apparent dermatological diseases, and with a group of men with androgenetic alopecia. The women with androgenetic alopecia had higher scores for self-sufficiency and social inadequacy compared to women with non-visible dermatological complaints, and they scored higher for inadequacy, rigidity and general psychological maladjustment than the men and had lower scores for injuredness self-evaluation and self-esteem. The women with androgenetic alopecia had more psychosocial problems, which they attributed to the hair loss, than the other groups.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Psychologic characteristics of men with alopecia androgenetica and their modification.

Psychologic characteristics were studied in a sample of 168 men with alopecia androgenetica who participated in a clinical trial on the efficacy of minoxidil gel. In general, no evidence of psychologic malfunctioning was found. Instead, a slightly more adequate psychologic state was indicated. However, specific problems associated with hair loss were reported by a substantial number of men. Responders with cosmetic improvement in the group over 35 years of age improved more regarding general psychologic maladjustment, inadequacy, and self-evaluation than those who did not respond. A reverse trend was, however, found in the group younger than 35 years of age, where the nonresponders improved more. An explanation for these findings is derived from the theory of cognitive dissonance.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

The association of frequent headaches with personality and life events.

The associations between personality traits, life events and frequent headaches were studied in a sample of 5766 adult subjects between 20 and 65 years of age from the general population. Subjects with at least weekly headaches had more life events and higher inadequacy, social inadequacy, rigidity and injuredness than subjects with less frequent headaches. These relationships were not observed in subjects of 50 years of age and older, with the exception of the association with inadequacy. From the traits measured, inadequacy had the highest odds ratios for frequent headaches and showed a modest interaction with the presence of a life event. These findings are in agreement with Sarason's interactional model.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

The associations of neck pain with radiological abnormalities of the cervical spine and personality traits in a general population.

Degenerative changes are considered to be a common cause of neck pain. In addition to this cause, personality traits could contribute to the complaint of neck pain. We investigated the associations of neck pain with personality traits, disc degeneration and osteoarthritis (OA) on radiographs of the cervical spine in a general population of 5,440 men and women between 20 and 65 years of age. Disc degeneration was associated with neck pain in the men but not in the women. OA of the facet joints was not related to neck pain, either in the men or the women, but the personality traits, neuroticism and injuredness, were. Among those with severe disc degeneration or OA of the cervical spine, neuroticism was a strong independent determinant of pain. Our findings show that neuroticism is a more powerful determinant of neck pain than radiological signs of disc degeneration or OA in the general population.

Adult↗